POETICS OF ARTISTIC NARRATIVE IN THE NOVEL BY P. P. ZUBOV “THE KARABAKH ASTROLOGER, OR THE FOUNDATION OF THE SHUSHI FORTRESS IN 1752”

Abstract

The article is an attempt to comprehensively characterize the principles of organizing the artistic narrative in the historical novel by Platon Zubov “The Karabakh Astrologer, or the Foundation of the Shushi Fortress in 1752” (1834). Against the background of the domestic genre tradition, dating back to the novels of Walter Scott and focusing mainly on national historical material, Zubov’s work refers the reader to the dramatic events of the mid-18th century associated with the internecine strife of the Armenian melikdoms located in the territory of Artsakh. The author presents the characters of the novel from the perspective of ethical dynamics, they are axiologically ambiguous, situationally and psychologically motivated, which indicates the influence of realistic tendencies on the writer’s work. The multiplicity of points of view on the key events of the novel, expressed in the speech activity of the characters, in combination with the conditionally “neutral” position of the narrator, who takes the position of an independent chronicler, contributes to the creation of an objective picture of one of the crisis moments in the history of the Armenian people and allows the reader to independently develop evaluative criteria for its perception.