Genre nature of the novel “Lavr” by E.G. Vodolazkin

Abstract

The study of the genre of the modern Russian novel remains in the field of actual research of modern literary studies. Noticeably transformed, the Russian novel still tends to certain genre traditions. This article examines the genre features of the novel “Lavr” by the modern Russian writer Yevgeny Vodolazkin. The authors analyze this work as a complex synthetic phenomenon, in which the features of the postmodern novel and medieval life are closely intertwined. The hidden references to the hagiographic literature are revealed, the ways of its explication in the plot and composition of the novel are considered. As a result, the authors come to the
conclusion about the structure-forming meaning of the path motif, which links together the modern literary techniques of the novel and its hagiographic elements. Two paths of the hero are revealed — horizontal and vertical. The first path is the development and overcoming of physical space, the vertical path is the path to God, forgiveness, the path of the soul and consciousness.