The genre and style features of N. S. Leskov’s literary criticism of the earlier period (1860s - early 1870s.)

The paper discusses the genre and style features of N. S. Leskov’s literary criticism system - the texts including the writer’s critical judgments reflecting his search in the field of subjects and problems, genres, narrative features, assimilation of another’s text in one’s own, etc. The most important feature of Leskov’s critical prose is its journalistic character. For the author his articles become a means of promoting the most urgent problems of modern times that comply with the national idea taking shape in his works. From the very beginning of the writer’s critical activity the main topic has been that of so-called «big discords» which later evolved into the topic of «Russian dissension». The most frequent genres in Leskov’s early literary criticism are feuilletons, reports, surveys, reviews, memoirs, etc. The genre composition was largely influenced by the choice of topics, but to a greater extent it was influenced by a multilevel dialogue, arranged in the writer’s critical judgments with contemporaries, literary community, and his reader. Becoming typical of them is the principle of a folkloric narration, where use is made of such genres as funny story, joke, etc. The genre and style features of N. S. Leskov’s literary criticism system also manifest themselves at the level of nomination, of the system of sub-headings, and of the genre designation of the text. As a result, his criticism system becomes a kind of the writer’s «creative laboratory» and an organic continuation of his artistic prose.

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