The image of the house in the novel of Isabel Allende “The house of spirits” and in the novel of M. Petrosyan “House in which...”

The article examines the image of the house from the point of view of its protective and hostile functions in relation to its inhabitants. Traditionally, the house is perceived as a space that resists dangerous chaos and therefore is a priori endowed with the function of protection. However, this theory fails when studying the Latin American culture, where internal and external spaces do not know separation. The samples of the Russian and Chilean literature clearly demonstrate this fact. If in the novel by M. Petrosyan, the boarding house becomes a sacred talisman for the disabled children, then in the novel by Isabel Allende, the house takes the form of a prison and carries an obvious destructive beginning for the main character of the book.