"Paradise Lost": Spatial imagery in the travelogue Under the Clear Sky of Little Russia by Sergei Evseenko

The article examines the spatial images of the Chernihiv, Poltava, and Kharkiv governorates in Sergei Evseienko's travelogue Under the Clear Sky of Little Russia. The representation of space can be presented through a series of oppositions, for instance, a factographic, neutrally described "Little Russia" versus a positively described "poetic" Little Russia. The importance of the "poetic" element is determined by its actualization in the text's "strong" points - the title and the final scene. This "poetic" quality has two facets. One is the idyllic, associated with the image of an achronal, midday Russia that formed in sentimentalist texts. Its markers are motifs of attractiveness and demi-naturalness, manifesting the mythologeme of naturalness. The idyllic element is expressed to varying degrees in the three local variants of the Little Russian space and is contrasted with an anti-idyllic element - a negatively depicted Little Russia. The anti-idyll is most pronounced in the representation of Chernihiv Governorate, where it is actualized in descriptions of urban provincial topoi, marked either by motifs of a technicist civilization as the opposite of naturalness, or by motifs of provinciality (apathy, irrationality, dullness, boredom, etc.). In the text, the Chernihiv region is a variant of a lost (desecrated) paradise. The only idyllic aspect in its depiction is the representation of the forest space, marked by motifs of healing, purity, and respite. It is also worth noting that Chernihiv Governorate is characterized by the least degree of not only "poeticism," but also "Little Russianness" (in relation to the human sphere). Next in terms of idyllic degree is the representation of Kharkiv Governorate. Here we find, on the one hand, the moderately idyllic topos of Slavyansk and its "civilian" resort, as well as the extremely expressively described sacred demi-natural locus of the Svyatogorsk Monastery. On the other hand, there are loci with negative connotations, such as the military water therapy establishment and the Horlivka mines. The latter share anti-idyllic features similar to those in Chernihiv (motifs of poisoned air/impaired breathing, human exploitation). The human sphere is characterized by a combination of Little Russian and Great Russian traits. The idyll is most fully actualized in the depiction of Poltava Governorate, whose nature is of a steppe character. Furthermore, the anthropic "Little Russianness" is most strongly expressed in this spatial variant. The second, legendary-historical facet of the "poetic" is also actualized unevenly across the local variants. The space of historical memory in Chernihiv Governorate is manifested in descriptions of loci related to industrial and Old Believer spheres. Within the depiction of Poltava Governorate, we encounter only weakly expressive images associated with the Battle of Poltava. Historicity is most vividly represented within Kharkiv Governorate, whose representation emphasizes the Russian-Tatar liminality of the territory within the timeframe of the 17th-18th centuries and the Cossack element. The authors declare no conflicts of interests.

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