Mythological Logocentrism in T. N. Tolstaya’s Novel “Kys”

Abstract

The mythological concept of logocentrism, realized in T. N. Tolstaya’s novel “Kys’” is discussed. It is shown that the image of the Book as well as the image of the Word are the central ones. The author argues that the analysis of the aesthetic functions of this image is important for the understanding of the concept of the novel as a whole. The author believes that Tolstaya constructs a sort of art model of the national world, so the verbal practice in “Kys’” are inevitably relate to the national aspect. It is emphasized that the storyline and the images linked with a particular functioning of artistic word in the Russian culture are traditionally discussed in the framework of the problematics of literaturecentrism. Therefore, the article considers the world of “Kys’” firstly as the world of literaturocentrism, but in the end it is not such recognized: literaturecentrism as a sociocultural phenomenon in most cases is restricted to a specific time frame, while “Kys’” can be considered rather as transistorizes system. It is noted that Tolstaya in her works gives a broader interpretation to this phenomenon and interprets love to the word as part of the Russian mentality in general. Special attention is paid to the mythological practices as in the novel logocentrical strategies are linked mainly with them.