Poetics of V. V. Nabokov’s early small prose: from stories not published during the writer’s life

The article deals with the early works of V. Nabokov - short prose that was not published during the life of the writer. «They speak Russian», «Sounds» and «Gods», written in the 1920s, only became available to Russian readers in the 21st century. The publication of The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov not only demonstrated public interest in the author’s works, but also raised an urgent question for literary critics studying Nabokov’s legacy: what is the role and place of these unknown stories in the general context of the writer’s and scientific discourse. The purpose of this work is to analyze the poetics of Vladimir Nabokov’s «They speak Russian», «Sounds», «Gods» and compare them with his other texts. Comparing these stories allowed us to consider the them in their relationship to one another and with such iconic works as «Other Shores», «Mashenka», «The Gift», «Assistant Director», «Christmas», and his plays. As a result, the tendencies common across Nabokov’s works were identified, which were already outlined in the era of the first serious appeals to prose and developed and conceptualized in the mature period: the motif of nostalgia, the image of Russia as a lost paradise, the split of the world into emigrant and Soviet, and the lyricism and impressionism of prose.