Functioning of the heroine’s “convertion” motive in a populist novel

The article defines the specifics of functioning the heroine’s “convertion” motive in a populist novel. Based on the materials of the novel “Through Towns and Villages” by populist and fiction-writer P. V. Zasodimsky, we study the role of the heroine’s “convertion” motive in plot-building of the novel, devoted to the history of becoming and activity of an intellectual of the 1970s. We have revealed the features of the plot situations, developing from the meeting of the central character with a girl/woman as a potential like-minded person. In the process of the heroine’s “convertion” the central character uses the techniques described in Chernyshevsky’s novel “What Is to Be Done?”: reading books and discussing them, talking on ethical and socially significant topics, assisting in her activities. Analysis of the relevant episodes of the novel allowed us to identify the theme of the heroine’s “convertion” with the theme of the central character as an embodiment of the heroic figure. It has been established that the motive of the heroine’s “convertion” in the novel “Through Towns and Villages”, being involved in the development of love plot, contributes to the identification of the traits of an ordinary man in the character. Verisimilitude and persuasiveness of the characters are defined by the complexity of their psyche. The article determines the significance of the motive system in the novel “Through Towns and Villages” as a work about fate and activity of an intelligent of the 1970s.