"One's own" and "someone else's" in A. Ivanov's “historical fantasy”: dichotomy or dualism of national culture?

The article is devoted to the problem of the dialogue of cultures in A. Ivanov’s historical metatext (“The Heart of Parma”, “Tobol” and a number of other novels). The specificity of the interaction "one's own" and "someone else's" determines the nature of the national principle, which is revealed in the historiosophical idea of eternal becoming and the pathos of mastery. The vital force of national existence is emphasized by the genre form: for all their synthetics, A. Ivanov’s historical narratives tend towards the heroism and magnitude of the epic. This determines a number of plot motifs and the specifics of the conflict, but also sets the way to search for the unity of the national principle. The unity of different peoples that create a national community is a process that comes from outside, does not depend on the will of individuals and even rulers, and has a metaphysical nature. The mosaic picture of the world created at the same time, with its fragmentation and eclecticism, resembles the early Middle Ages with its heroic epics and pathos of the birth of a new world.