Image of Chelyabinsk in Contemporary Prose: Authorial Optics of City Depiction

This article examines the representation of Chelyabinsk in contemporary prose. The research is based on the works of D. Bavilsky, M. Boyarkina, and L. Averbakh. The analysis of the material reveals a diverse generic orientation of the texts that construct the city’s image. The primary objective of this study is to identify the authors' distinct optics for depicting the city: the existential and metaphysical perspective (D. Bavilsky), the ironic approach (M. Boyarkina), and the philosophical-nostalgic viewpoint (L. Averbakh). The paper characterizes the generic models that demonstrate various vectors for comprehending the urban image. It highlights the specific features of portraying the city as a peripheral space, whose properties include frontier emptiness and liminality, within the genre experiments of D. Bavilsky, which are connected to the concept of an “infinite text.” The study also explores the mechanisms for constructing a city text in the ironic novella by M. Boyarkina, whose creative manner aligns with the stylistic conventions of “pink noir.” Furthermore, it analyzes the generic model of L. Averbakh's prose, which possesses an intermedial nature and proves to be the most adequate for expressing the image of the city as a symbol of childhood, a home for the soul, and a place of inspiration inextricably linked to music. The authors conclude that the works united by the intention to create an image of Chelyabinsk provide evidence for the existence of a distinct “Chelyabinsk text” as a unique phenomenon with its inherent aesthetic characteristics.

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