Trickster stories by G. Efron based on his diaries of 1940-1943

Statement of the problem. The article examines the main features of the trickster stories as a realizable ‘trickster complex' in relation to G. Efron's Diaries - an example of ego-documentary literature with a pronounced personal beginning, which represents an important genre-forming element of diaristics. The purpose of the article is to analyze the trickster stories as a manifestation of the ‘trickster complex' in G.S. Efron's Diaries of 1940-1943. Review of scientific literature on the problem. Consideration of the main manifestations of the trickster stories in G. Efron's Diaries is based on the main works of the trickster philosophy, belonging to M. Lipovetsky, N.V. Kovtun, Yu.V. Chernyavskaya, U.A. Komissarova, and L. Khaid. Methodology (materials and methods). The article uses the experience of the structural-typological method, genealogical and cultural-historical analyses. Research results. The paper analyzes the main elements related to the ‘trickster complex' in relation to the diary genre of the 20th century, created in the context of Soviet reality in the early 1940s. This applies to both the grotesque image of Soviet reality in that era, and the images of heroes presenting interest to the author of the diary (Yu. Serbinov, D. Sikorsky, Raechka, and D. Seseman). A special place in the article is given to the trickster strategies of behavior by G. Efron (Moore) himself, which includes awareness of the fundamental ambivalence and liminality of his image, the experience of a mediator who communicates between various subcultures and cultural worlds of Soviet Russia, implementing the elements of laughter culture, pronounced vitality consciousness, realized through the system of ‘gastronomic pleasures', ‘the power of cynicism' (M. Lipovetsky) of the Soviet trickster.