THE FAIRY-TALE NOVELLA BEFORE THE ROOSTER CROWS THRICE BY VASILY SHUKSHIN FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF INTERTEXTUALITY; [ПОВЕСТЬ-СКАЗКА «ДО ТРЕТЬИХ ПЕТУХОВ» В. М. ШУКШИНА ПОД РАКУРСОМ ИНТЕРТЕКСТУАЛЬНОСТИ]

The paper describes the intertextual structure of the satirical fairy-tale novella Before the Rooster Crows Thrice by Vasily Shukshin. This extravagant parody (according to Nicole Christian) widely employs the techniques of postmodern poetics that were not typical of the realist writer. The authors consider the poetic functions of the Russian folklore and literary characters in a kind of “literary anti-fairy tale” (such as Ivan the Fool, a three-headed dragon Zmey Gorynych, Baba Yaga, Ilya Muromets, the Unsmiling Princess, malign spirits, sentimental “poor Lisa”, etc.). The paper reveals camouflaged allusions, quotations, and metatextual connections that clarify Shukshin’s intention and determine his place in the context of late Soviet Russian anti-bureaucratic literature. It is noted that the intertextuality of the folklore characters in this anti-tale is largely mediated by references to school folklore, scenes of amateur student theaters of variety miniatures (STEMs), Soviet professional satire of the 1950-70s (such as Tyorkin in the Other world by Alexander Tvardovsky, Vladimir Vysotsky’s songs, and popular humorous USSR TV programs). The complex historical and cultural background of the late Soviet anti-tale and experimental expressive techniques caused the fact that Before the Rooster Crows Thrice remains little known to the foreign reading public at large (for example, in China). Meanwhile, the reference to these poetic features could allow translators to convey Shukshin’s ideas and mental imagery to the Chinese connoisseurs of the literary heritage of the Siberian writer. © 2024 Ural State Pedagogical University. All rights reserved.