The author's understanding of the national picture of the world in the novel “Stepan Erzia” by K. Abramov

Introduction. The article emphasizes that the most important means of reflecting the appearance of Stepan Nefedov (Erzia) in the novel of the same name by K. Abramov was a deep, thoughtful reconstruction of the national picture of the world, socio-cultural, ethical and everyday background of the time when the sculptor lived. Scholars from many fields express great interest to the problem of the author's interpretation of the national picture of the world depicted in this work. A comprehensive analysis of this issue is of crucial importance for contemporary literature, since any artistic context requires a multidimensional study. The object of the research is a novel-trilogy about “Stepan Erzia” by K. Abramov, an original aesthetic phenomenon in the national and cultural discourse of Mordovia; the subject is the specific features of the individual and author's view on the national picture of the world in the novel in the context of national identity and ethnic outlook. The purpose of the work is to consider the nature of the author's interpretation of the national picture of the world in the novel “Stepan Erzia”. Materials and Methods. The empirical data of the paper is a novel-trilogy “Stepan Erzia” by K. Abramov. Reliability and academic validity of the results are ensured both by the use of traditional methods (comparative, typological, historical, etc.) and by modern approaches of the humanitarian profile to the study of specific artistic facts and images (contextual, cultural, informational, etc.). It is also provided by the large scale of the empirical base of the research, compiled with the help of a representative selection of the source material and its subsequent correct interpretation as well as the correlation of author's hypotheses with universally recognized ideas and conclusions in the field of history, theory and practice of literary criticism, considering specific features of historical and biographical works. Results and Discussion. Analyzing the national originality of K. Abramov's work, we can conclude that any ethnic group, any cultural integrity possess “national mindset”, predetermining the national outlook on the world. In accordance with the hypothesis, the authors' understanding of the national outlook of the world as if a conscious idea of the world, mythology, philosophy, language, ethnology, folklore of a particular nation, the way of its social, economic, family life, which are formed under the influence of an epoch, environment, habitat conditions, cultural and historical development, psychological features of the national character, the influence of religious systems, etc. Conclusion. The novel-trilogy “Stepan Erzia” shows the national worldview of K. Abramov, reflects his private, personal “I” as well as ethnic and mental nature of the nation, its picture of the world. The writer's national consciousness and his worldview established the socio-cultural basis of the ethnic stylization of the work. The form of this phenomenon can be seen though the systematics of the novel (from the plot to the compositional component), as well as the characters which embodied the national essence.