Techniques for Creating the Image of a Child Character in the Stories of V. Astafyev’s Book “The Last Bow”

In the autobiographical book “The Last Bow” V. Astafiev artistically comprehends the theme of childhood, which has already been noted by researchers. However, literary scholars, as a rule, concentrate on the analysis of the image of the central character and his grandmother. In our opinion, the writer’s ideas about childhood are also manifested through the images of secondary characters-children, relations with which reveal the originality of the autobiographical hero.The purpose of the study is to analyze the techniques for creating images of children (Vitya and Sanka) in the book “The Last Bow”.Material and methodology of the study. The material of the study is the stories of the book “The Last Bow”, which tell us about the relationship between two characters – Vitya and Sanka. The methodological basis of the study is the works on psychologism poetics, autobiographical prose by M. M. Bakhtin, L. Ya. Ginzburg, A. P. Skaftymov, A. B. Esin. A structural-semiotic approach is used to analyze the image of a character.The creation of images of Vitya and Sanka is based on psychologism techniques (portraiting, behavioral reactions in conflict or crisis situations, the transfer of an internal state through dialogic speech and internal monologues). At the same time, V. Astafiev uses elements of intertextuality, which make it possible to combine the social and everyday specifics of an autobiographical narrative with a conditionally symbolic generalization in the characters’ poetics (in the story “The Horse with a Pink Mane” the biblical motif of temptation is used, in the story “Dark Dark Night” - robinsonade plot, which implies self-determination in the conditions of being on an island).In the book “The Last Bow”, the stories about Vitya and Sanka represent a certain meta-plot in which the dynamics of the images of boys is determined by the process of their growing up, of formation of their personalities. The changes are especially showed in the image of Sanka. If in “The Pink-Maned Horse” he acts as a trickster-tempter in relation to the autobiographical hero; then in “The Photo I’m Not In” he is able to give up his interests in order to support a school friend.

V. Astafiev, image of a child, artistic technique, autobiography, Russian literature of the 20th century