Functioning of inserted texts and comments in “Non-memoirs” by Yuri Lotman

This article is devoted to the analysis of the functioning of inserted texts and comments in “Non-memoirs” by Yuri Lotman. In the study, the genre-communicative uniqueness of “Non-memoirs” is defined, the functioning of inserted texts and comments is compared. The objective of the study is to reveal the author's intention of their usage. As a result, functional similarity of the inserted texts and comments was identified; the differences in the nature of their relation with the main text, their size and the type of information conveyed were revealed. Using examples, the author shows that comments in “Non-memoirs” are always independent of the main text, while inserted texts can be both syntagmatically related and unrelated to it. Inserted texts are usually smaller in size than comments. Comments also differ from inserted texts in that information conveyed is more detailed. The author concludes that the use of inserted texts and comments regulates the reader's perception of the text “Non-memoirs” by Yuri Lotman.