The Mother of God semantics of the name "Maria" in Russian anti-nihilistic literature

The article examines the plot-forming potential of the name "Maria" in Russian anti-nihilistic literature. Using the example of the novels Asmodeus of Our Time (1858) by VI. Askochensky, The Turbulent Sea (1863) by A.F. Pisemsky, Demons (1872) by F.M. Dostoevsky, the dilogy Wandering Forces (Modern Idyll (1865) and Pestilence (1867)) by V.P. Avenarius, it is shown how the use of this anthroponym can introduce the Virgin Mary plot into a work, including one presented "in the negative". The study demonstrates how the scheme, which initially appeared in Askochensky's novel as a mirror image of the biblical plot of Mary's birth of the Child (the heroine of the work, Marie, gives birth to a stillborn child from a "demon" who seduced her - the atheist Pustovtsev) is transformed in subsequent texts of anti-nihilistic literature, the canon of which is largely set by Askochensky - the works of Avenarius and Pisemsky. The Virgin Mary motifs in Dostoevsky's novel, which were the only ones noticed by previous researchers, become, from this point of view, a continuation of the line that was set by earlier examples of anti-nihilism. The Virgin Mary plot turns out to be connected with the most important question of the 1860s-1870s about the institution of the family, emancipation, and the role of women in society: by showing a woman-mother through the image of the Virgin Mary, the authors of anti-nihilistic works bring this social theme to the level of religious and philosophical issues. Antinihilist writers built their ideas on the foundations of Christianity, sought to oppose atheism - faith, emptiness (nihil) and sterility - with a positive principle, which for them, as Orthodox Christians, was unthinkable outside of Christ. The idea of redemption and rebirth is inextricably linked with the Virgin Mary (from her pictorial depiction to the plot of the birth of a child), which, in essence, rather relates to the Resurrection of Christ: the Gospel plot is not reproduced literally, but is compressed, perceived as a single whole. Considering only a few anti-nihilistic novels of the 19th century through the prism of the Virgin Mary plot already makes it possible to see the vector of the evolution of this discourse in literature: direct and "negative" likenesses to the Virgin Mary are replaced by their mixture, which allows not only affirming the ideal and condemning vice, but also showing sin and rebirth, outlining the path of healing from the nihilistic infection. The author declares no conflicts of interests.

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