Poetics of genius loci in victor Pulkin's short novel (povest’) “Dobraya Poveter’” (“The good wind”)

Literary work of V. I. Pulkin (1941-2008) was closely connected with the “local legends” (a term coined by N. P. Antsiferov) of Karelia and the Russian North. The creation of tales, essays and short novels was most often preceded by expeditions in collaboration with the famous folklorist N. A. Krinichnaya (1938-2019). The integration of local folklore plots into the author’s literary text is clearly manifested in the biographical short novel “Dobraya Poveter” (“The Good Wind”) (1984), dedicated to the storyteller M. Korguev and his homeland, the Pomeranian village of Keret. The article for the first time clarifies the creative history of the short novel, discusses its sources, narrative structure and chronotope using archival documents. It establishes that the short novel of V. Pulkin is strongly influenced by both the fairy tale and historical legend genres: Korguev’s life path is described from his daughter’s perspective; the background to the storyteller’s biography is the story of the village of Keret transmitted in the oral memoirs of its inhabitants. The concept of “artistic history” of the Russian North (V. Pulkin’s term) is in sync with N. P. Antsiferov’s and A. A. Ukhtomsky’s reflections on the synthesis of “true story” and “myth” in folklore and literary representations of the area, the specifics and significance of literary local history.