The Easter canon in the story “Kukusha” by M. A kucherskaya

The genre of the Easter story, which developed in the second half of the 19th century, was revived in the post-Soviet period, at the end of the 20th - beginning of the 21th century. The article presents the results of observations of the postmodern story by M. A. Kucherskaya “Kukusha” (“The Cuckoo”) and shows how the canon of the Easter story manifests itself in modern Russian prose. In addition to some traditional components (for example, ideological content - with an emphasis on the disclosure of human values and works of mercy; the transformation of the main character’s life - in the story, along with this, there is a change in the inner state of the heroine) the Easter canon also manifested itself through the motive of the main character’s search for her own identity in the story of the Coachman. This motif is expressed in two ways: both through the Christian symbol (the cross) and with the help of the folklore image of the cuckoo, conveying the syncretism of folklore and religion preserved in certain layers of modern society, when Christian and pagan faith coexist in the inner world of people. Comparison of the story “Kukusha” (“The Cuckoo”) with two other modern works in this genre: “The Easter Story with a Breakdown” by B. P. Ekimov (2002) and the story “Once Upon an Easter” by A. B. Torik (2023) - allowed us to summarize the above observations, concluding that, having revived, the Easter canon thus expanded at the beginning of the 21th century, accommodating the existential status of a person in a state of crisis.