The communicative drama of the historical series

The article discusses the general principles of the communicative dramaturgy of the Russian historical series. It is shown that the historical series performs an important communicative function of transmitting historical, socio-cultural and moral experience from other historical epochs to our modernity. The archetypal hero and plot allow the series to fulfill its main socio-cultural function of transmitting historical experience; such a hero and plot creates the effect of “recognition” and attracts the viewer. The dramatic principle underlying the historical series can be defined as “Shakespeareanism”, which is expressed in the “titanism of passions”, in understanding the role of chance in history, in mixing styles. The series may include a deep reflection on the course of national history, which is unfolded in the fates and deeds of the main characters. The difference between the imaginative thinking of a novelist writer and the screenwriter and directors of the series may be manifested in the fact that in the series the characters appear «simplified» compared to their literary prototypes.