Fantastic space in the memoirs of N.P. Antsiferov

The article addresses the problem of the relationship between the realistic and the fantastic using memoir literature as an example; memoir literature was chosen because its genre characteristics are factuality and documentary nature; memoirs are presented as a source of evidence about realities. Memoir literature is a complex of documentary and fiction literature, therefore, within memoirs, elements of plot or composition may appear that are inherent in the first place to fiction; in particular, the fantastic, i.e. the unreal, the fictitious, the supernatural. The memoirs of N.P. Antsiferov, a historian and literary scholar, are of interest due to the particular role of the reception of fiction read by Antsiferov, which is reflected in the descriptions of real places and events that actually occurred, thus creating a place for fantastic elements within the memoir narrative. Using the descriptive-functional method, chapters of Antsiferov's memoirs were analyzed with a special emphasis on the description of the fantastic space - the plot and structure of such descriptions. In addition, such fragments were compared with the theoretical views of N.P. Antsiferov in his scientific works. During the study, it was noted that in Antsiferov's narrative, the surrounding world is often perceived by him as fantastic: "The Island of the Blessed" as a special utopian space in the chapters "Childhood" and "Adolescence/Years of Adolescence", the world of the game in the chapters "Adolescence" and "Prima Vera", "The City of Kitezh" (the Christmas days he spent visiting friends in Baranovka) in the chapter "In the Morning Fog", "Ibsen's world" seen during his trip to Norway in "Incipit vita nova", "the unknown" or "special" world in Italian and French cities, in the chapter "Quanti e bella jiovinezza", etc. Such fantastic fragments in Antsiferov are almost always linked with references to certain works of art, mostly also fantastic: romantic ones, fairy tales etc. The combination of the real and the fantastic in Antsiferov's memoir can be compared with his attitude to the fantastic, the legendary, the work of human imagination, which is manifested in his scientific works. In the monograph (dissertation research) “The Problem of Urbanism in Russian Literature”, mainly in the chapters devoted to Dostoevsky, Antsiferov emphasizes Dostoevsky's utopianism and applies to Dostoevsky's creative method the definition of "reality - deepened to fantasy" and speaks of the transformed existence in his works. In his memoirs, speaking about the fantastic space, he speaks of "true existence" or the erasure of the boundaries between a fairy tale and reality. Everyday reality, thanks to the appearance of fantastic elements in it, acquires utopianism and becomes genuine existence. The relationship between real and fantastic spaces in Antsiferov's memoirs coincides with his approach to the relationship between the real and the fantastic, which we see in his scientific works. The author declares no conflicts of interests.

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