The island of Gotland in Russian literature of the XX century: topography, mythology, poetics

The article is devoted to the formation of the "Swedish" text in Russian literature at the turn of the XX-XXI centuries. The island of Gotland takes the central position in it. As a rule, the writers who live / lived in the transnational, cross-border areas or visit/ visited Sweden as a translator / international journalist / traveler (T. Beck, V. Gandelsman, N. Ivanova, T. Kibirov, N. Tolstaya, B. Ulanovskaya, I. Fonyakov) seek Gotland themes and images. The conducted analysis has revealed that Gotland's image is reconstructed by poets and prose writers through a system of symbols. The main Gotland's characters are the sea, the sky, boat, church, island, birds, tree, rocks, air elements. However, despite the appeal of the writers to general cultural signs, the perception of the Swedish island for each one will be different. For some writers modern Gotland is the personification of creative freedom, inspiration, mystery, comfort, variance and communication. For other authors Gotland is the edge of historical, political, social and mental contrasts generated by imminent "outside" chaos. The Swedish island could not withstand to mainland disharmony, which led to the destruction of its wondrous nature, man-made beauty, the appearance of the absurd sceneries. The most common artistic techniques in the creation of Gotland cultural landscape are the antithesis, comparison, hyperbole, metaphor.