Ritual-mythological aspect in the structure of the novel of education (based on novels “My soul Paul” by A.N. Varlamov and “Inspection bureau” by A.N. Arkhangelsky)

The purpose of this article is to identify the features of functioning of the ritual and mythological complex in the structure of the nurturing novel. On the example of novels “My Soul Pavel” by A.N. Varlamov and “Inspection Bureau” by A.N. Arkhangelsky the analysis of mythopoetic motifs and images endowed with ritual component is carried out. The article analyzes the relationship of rituals and mythological allusions to the genre specificity of the educational novel. The focus of the article is on identification of functional meaning and role of ritual in the plot of the novels. The article explores the social content of the ritual-mythological complex: the functional basis of the ritual is the creation of a sustainable model of social situations. The novelty of the article lies in the study of the role of the ritual-mythological complex in the artistic world of the plot of the modern novel of education. The analysis concludes that the ritual complex performs the function of systematization in the plot of the educational novel and creates the transfer zone allowing the characters to pass from one social status to another one by overcoming certain tests aimed to check the hero’s readiness for the new status. Also, ritual, based on the mythological worldview, divides the stages of the hero’s path: following the rituals, the hero gradually moves from initiation to initiation. Mythopoetic of ritual actions acts as a kind of practical guide to the ritual rite, thus strengthening faith in the magical and creating intergenerational continuity.