Typology of A. P. Chekhov’s characters in Russian literary studies at the turn of the 20th-21st centuries

The article classifies the studies concerning the problem of typologizing characters in Chekhov's works. The emphasis is placed on the period of the turn of the 21st century, in particular the last quarter of the 20th century and the first two decades of the 21st century. The analysis has shown the presence of four typological trends, distinguished by the dominant content and the time. The first group involves the works with the emphasis on traditional for Russian literature of pre-Chekhov’s time types, including the types of “superfluous man”, “little man”, etc. The second group marks a new stage in Chekhov studies and the search for a proper Chekhov type of character, called the “average man”. The dominant content of the third group is the interest of researchers in the psychology of the character, in the forms of his behavior. In the last two decades, researchers have been turning to more specific divisions, such as professional, class, gender or other.