The Mythopoetic Space of Baltic Cities in the Selected Short Stories by Max Frei

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/1427-9681.17.07

Keywords:

Vilnius, Riga, Tallin, mythopoeia, urban space, fantasy, pandemic

Abstract

This article attempts to analyze the mythopoetic space of the capitals of the Baltic states in selected stories by Russian-speaking fantasy author Svetlana Martynchik (born in Odesa in 1965, pseudonym – Max Frei), published during a time of global upheaval for European culture, namely after 2022. The Lithuanian capital, especially in comparison with Riga and Tallinn, emerges as a lim­inal space where characters find it most convenient to transition between the world of wonders and everyday reality. The vivid geography of Vilnius includes real topography imbued with stereotypical connotations, as well as established loci tied to urban practices (courtyard, avenue, supermarket), transforming into a functional field for constructing the author’s urban myths and reproducing pre-existing cultural ones. Special attention is given to a group of Scandinavian myths in the context of the coronavirus pandemic, which the author perceives as yet another, and this time ultimate, decline of Europe and civilization as a whole. Mythopoetic Vilnius, forming a unified northern cultural space together with Riga and Tallinn, becomes a realm of escapism, acquiring features of Eden and an anti-Babylon.

Author Biography

  • Kristina Vorontsova, Uniwersytet Jagielloński, Wydział Filologiczny, Instytut Filologii Wschodniosłowiańskiej, Katedra Literaturoznawstwa Rosyjskiego

    Vorontsova Kristina – доктор филологических наук, профессор кафедры русского литературоведения Института восточнославянской филологии Ягеллонского университета (г. Краков, Польша). Научные интересы: русскоязычная поэзия ХХ–ХХI веков, мифопоэтика, геопоэтика, образ Польши в различных геокультурах, урбанистические пространства, литература фэнтези, массовая культура и сравнительное литературоведение. Монографии: «Мы связаны, поляки, давно одной судьбою…»: Польский текст русской культуры в поэзии второй половины ХХ века (1945–1991), Siedlce: Wydawnictwo Naukowe UPH 2020; Пространство-Время – андрогин: модели пространства в поэзии Елены Шварц, Kraków: Wydawnictwo UJ 2016. Из недавних публикаций: Polish Cities as a Space of History in Boris Khersonsky’s «Family archive», «Studia Rossica Posnaniensia» 2024, № 49/1, с. 55–70; Молчание в творчестве Елены Шварц, «Acta Universitatis Lodziensis. Folia Litteraria Rossica» 2023, № 16, с. 115–129; Эволюция концепта скуки в творчестве Елены Шварц, «Studia Rossica Posnaniensia» 2023, № 48/1, с. 97–110; «И махнуть из Риги в Краков…»: (не)традиционный Польский текст в цикле стихотворений Сергея Морейно «Краковский трубач», «Acta Baltico-Slavica» 2022, № 46, с. 1–21.

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Published

2024-12-30 — Updated on 2024-12-30

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No. 17 (2024)

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How to Cite

Vorontsova, Kristina. 2024. “The Mythopoetic Space of Baltic Cities in the Selected Short Stories by Max Frei”. Acta Universitatis Lodziensis. Folia Litteraria Rossica, no. 17 (December): 105-18. https://doi.org/10.18778/1427-9681.17.07.
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