MYTHOLOGICAL ALLUSION IN МIKHAIL ZOSHCHENKO’S TALE “APOLLO AND TAMARA”

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Abstract

The article examines the mythological allusion to the aesthetics of the god Apollo in the story “Apollo and Tamara” by M.M. Zoshchenko. The allusion is correlated with the Apollonism of F. Nietzsche and the mythological semantics formed around the image of the god Apollo. We note that in the story one can see the author’s verification of Nietzsche’s idea: simultaneously with the exposure of the ugliness of real life, the collapse of beautiful illusions occurs. In addition, the plot of the musical competition between Apollo Perepenchuk and Belenky probably resembles the mythological plot of Apollo and Marsyas/Dionysus; this plot reminiscence to a certain extent reflects the tendency of mutual penetration or competition in culture, and behind the aesthetic antithesis there is a hidden socio-cultural opposition: aristocratic and mass culture, classical and modern. It should also be noted that in the story Apollonism and Dionysism reflect the problem of the incompatibility of the concepts of “I” and “we”, individualism and collectivism.

About the authors

T. Bao

St. Petersburg State University

Author for correspondence.
Email: btt4896@gmail.com
7–9 University Embankment, St. Petersburg, 199034, Russia

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