Steppe treasures of D.N. Mamin-sibiryak and A.P. Chekhov

Abstract

The comparative analysis of the problem-thematic field and poetics of the stories written by two contemporary writers - D.N. Mamin-Sibiryak's The Treasure of Kuchum (1897) and A.P. Chekhov's Happiness (1887), as well as other works on the steppe by A.P. Chekhov ("Steppe" and "Fires") allows comparing different types of steppe landscape to demonstrate different understandings of history and memory by the writers. Though sharing the common theme of steppe and steppe treasures, these works are distinguished by a different course of time and author's attitude to what they depict. In his work, Mamin contaminates genre strategies of the essay (the open composition and free expression of the author's self) with those of the story, with its complex portraits of characters and personal stories represented as a chain of episodes ("meetings"). Chekhov's story is a lyrical novella, whose narrator is a "pure" contem-plator, who, like his characters, seeks to dissolve in the elemental life of the steppe. The steppe in the story is mythologized to exist forever, "always", in cyclical time. The writer repeatedly emphasizes that there is neither sense not goal in it, since all senses and goals are revealed or generated by a human creator of life's eventfulness. Though old shepherd dreams of his "happiness", which is to find a treasure hidden in the steppe by ancient people, he does not want to make a move. In Mamin's narrative, the narrator is mobile: he observes various people, including an old migrant who is similar to the shepherd from Chekhov's story, as well as a medical assistant who dreams of getting Kuchum's treasure. In connection with his story, mamin's narrative gets an adventurous colouring. The narrator in Mamin's story does not believe in steppe treasures, but sees the traces of history, preserved by Khan Kuchum's descendants in legends and songs. The writer shows the demythologization of the legend, which becomes the historical memory of the place. © 2019 Tomsk State University. All rights reserved.