‟The Power of the Stone” in P. Bazhov’s Tales

• Main Author: Yang Yubing
• Format: Article
• Language: Russian
• Published: Transbaikal State University 2021-02-01
• Series: Гуманитарный вектор
• Subjects: p. p. bazhov; tales; “power of stone”; malachite; emerald
• Online Access: http://zabvektor.com/wp-content/uploads/010321040316-Jan%20Jujbin.pdf

The article discusses ‟the power of stone” in the tales by P. P. Bazhov on the example of iconic stones of the Ural lytic culture: malachite, emerald, chrysolite. Using the method of cultural-historical, ideological-figurative and symbolic-contextual analysis, the author examines the history of the discovery of the stone riches of the Urals, the place of lytic discourse in the world of Bazhov’s tales, as well as the specific symbolism of gemstones (malachite, copper emerald, chrysolite) in the writer’s fantastic work. This is the relevance of the study. The author of the work proves the ambivalent nature of malachite as the main stone of the Ural mountains, symbolizing the beauty of the Mistress-Malachite, copper emerald, embodying the absolute power of the “stone force”, embodying the secret wealth of the mountains, inaccessible to ordinary mortals, like the secret of the stone flower. The third stone that embodies the lytic power of the Ural Mountains is the Bazhov chrysolite. The article consistently examines the evolution of Bazhov’s “iconic” stones in the writer’s artistic world during the transition from fairy tales depicting the pre-revolutionary life of the Urals to fairy tales depicting the realities of the revolutionary and Soviet Urals. It can be said that by depicting the evolution of the “stone power” of the main Ural gems, Bazhov prepared the ground for depicting the lytic discourse of the tales of the new Urals. In these tales, along with real stones, such as the eagle stone from the tale Eagle feather or “sun stone” ‒ plagioclase from the same tale, mystical and semi ‒ mystical stones will be used: “at all simple, on five faces” stone key of the earth (the fairy tale Key of the Earth, “patient stone” (the fairy tale Distant little body). The article will be of interest to all humanitarians working with the symbolism of stones in Russian literature of the XIX–XX centuries.