The cultural category of sinfulness in the communicative space of a literary text (based on the material of A. Custine's book "Russia in 1939")

The culturological study of phenomena related to artistic communication is one of the most relevant areas of scientific research, since it is characterized by an interdisciplinary nature. Its task is to analyze the cultural dominants that influence the system of views of the author of the work of art and his contemporaries. The relevance of the study of the text of the XIX century is determined by its significance for the present historical stage. Custine's book "Russia in 1839" formed the basis of the modern perception of Russia and Russians by Western Europeans. The myths created by Marquis are persistent and influence stereotypes and, in general, the success of today's intercultural communication. The purpose of the study was to identify and study the specifics of the units of cultural knowledge objectified in Custine's book "Russia in 1839". The main research methods were the continuous sampling method, the method of observing the facts of objectification of cultural categories and the structural and functional method of analysis. The results of the study were a number of identified concepts: sin, laziness, pride, envy, which are the most frequent in Custine's work. The author considers the sin of laziness to be specific to Russian culture, while pride and envy are characteristic of Europeans too. Formally, the author's conclusions are based on observation, which allowed readers to consider them objective. While a deeper analysis proves that the writer created his work based on ideas drawn from French romantic literature. The work of Custine is poorly studied in Russian cultural studies, and provides a wide field for research. This article is devoted to the study of such a cultural phenomenon as the category of sinfulness, which has not previously been analyzed in the context of artistic communication.