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Abstract: “Konyaga” is one of the famous fairy tales written by M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, but due to the ideological component of the theme it has often been interpreted simplistically, as evidenced by the significant proportion of emotive and ideological components in its evaluation. The aim of the article is to provide a holistic analysis of the fairy tale, facilitating an authentic interpretation of its text. The creative history of the fairy tale is connected with the relevance of the “problem of muzhik” in Russia in the 1880s. Turning to this issue, Saltykov creates a symbolic image of Konyaga, accumulating the socio-political views of the writer on the Russian peasantry, expressed in his earlier articles (“Letters about the Province”, “The Sanctuary of Monrepo”, “Abroad”, etc.). The ambivalence of the author’s conception of “Russian peasantry” determines the complexity of the structure of the text of the fairy tale, its genre specificity, and peculiarity of its poetics: alternation of metaphysical and satirical planes, organic combination of lyrics and epics, of myth and the author’s contemporary political discourse. The fairy tale distinguishes external and internal plots, dual chronotope, and text organization according to the principles of sonata form composition. The musical architectonics makes it possible for the writer to carry through the text contrasting themes and motifs that develop intertwined with each other: on the one hand, hardships and servitude of the peasant labor and the “unconsciousness” of peasant life, on the other hand, the heroics of peasant labor and its significance for Russia. The artistic space of the fairy tale is depicted in two planes: the mythological world of the character (Konyaga) is opposed to the historical (Christian) world of “all others” (author-narrator and idlers), where the character is not allowed to enter, which enables the writer to raise the question of justice not only of the social order, but of the world order as a whole. The author of the article believes that the theme of justice (“truth”) is the main conceptual idea not only of “Konyaga”, but also the origin of all fairy tales included in the peasant “sub-plot” of the cycle “Fairy Tales”.

About the author(s) :

Marina A. Alyakrinskaya

Russian Academy of Public Administration – North-West Institute of Management

(Saint Petersburg, Russia)

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6581-2988

Publication Timeline:

Date of receipt: 27.05.2025; date of publication: 31.10.2025

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