Noble estate in the English postmodernism (“England, England” by J. Barnes, “The hippopotamus” by S. Fry, “The gentlemen” by G. Ritchie)

The article considers the works of English postmodern authors (J. Barnes, S. Fry, G. Ritchie), in which the estate appears not as a relic of the past, a remnant of a bygone and irrevocable era, but as a viable element included in the space of the modern world. The authors skillfully operate with the categories of “country-house literature” formed over several centuries, rethinking the concept of “Englishness” and engaging in a dialogue with an erudite reader. By analyzing and comparing different accents and techniques, the article shows exactly how the “estate myth” is rethought and reconstructed, what new impulses it receives. Thus, J. Barnes in the novel “England, England” (1998) refers to the categories of British pre-romantic aesthetics, in particular, to the category of “picturesque”, and shows how, passed through the prism of the mass culture, they can be used to create modern kitsch. S. Fry in the “Hippopotamus” (1994) refers to another motif developed by novelists of the 18th - 19th centuries, “the estate as a magical space”, whether it be real miracles, witty jokes or the result of a catastrophic delusion caused by blind faith in a miracle, which, however, leads the hero to a sudden insight and becomes a catalyst for creativity. Finally, G. Ritchie in the movie “Gentlemen” (2020) demonstrates that the estate in the 21st century can take on new, marginal functions - and remain the embodiment of “England’s green and pleasant land”, sung by William Blake in his famous poem. The analysis of these plots, it seems, will serve as a means to study the newest ways in which “country house novel” can move in the 21st century, and one of the keys to understanding what transformations the estate myth is undergoing in the literature of English postmodernism.