The leitmotif of illness in the novel “Doctor Zhivago” by B. Pasternak
https://doi.org/10.28995/2686-7249-2025-2-60-68
Abstract
The article considers the meaning-forming function of the leitmotif of illness in B. Pasternak’s novel “Doctor Zhivago”. By leitmotif we mean the central motif of a fiction work. Illness is seen as an anomaly of life, which in its invariant represents a borderline, liminal situation, something non-normative. The novel presents revolution and civil war as social processes that are morbid in themselves and spread the disease, “infecting” people and the surrounding space. Illness in its various manifestations (both mental and bodily) permeates the entire fabric of the novel. The article, with the help of I.V. Silantiev’s method of the motif analysis, studies several events realizing the motif of interest to us. The leitmotif of illness turns out to be the central, plot-forming motif in the novel.
About the Author
Elizaveta A. Shishkina
Russian State University for the Humanities
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Elizaveta A. Shishkina, student
6, Miusskaya Sq., Moscow, 125047
References
1. Burov, S.G. (2011), Poligenetichnost’ khudozhestvennogo mira romana B.L. Pasternaka “Doktor Zhivago” [The polygenetic nature of the artistic world of B.L. Pasternak’s novel “Doctor Zhivago”], D. Sc. Thesis (Philology), Stavropol State University, Stavropol, Russia. Faryno, J. (1990), “Duchess Stolbunova-Enrizi and her son Eugraf (Archaeopoetics of ‘Doctor Zhivago’. 1)”, in Poetika Pasternaka – Pasternak’s poetics, Wydawnictwo WSP, Bydgoszcz, Poland, pp. 155–221.
2. Faryno, J. (1992), “The Yuryatyn library and the librarian Avdotya (Archaeopoetics of ‘Doctor Zhivago’. 6)”, in Mal’ts, A., ed, Sbornik statei k 70-letiyu professora Yu.M. Lotmana [Collected articles for the 70th anniversary of professor Yu.M. Lotman], Tartusskii universitet, Tartu, Estonia, pp. 385–411.
3. Faryno, J. (2001), “What and why do writers make their characters sick and treat them?”, in Bobryk, R. and Faryno, J., eds., Illness, medicine and health, Polish Academy of Sciences, Institute of Slavic Studies, Warszawa, Poland, pp. 485–494.
4. Faryno, J. (2011), “The moire cabbage and the notebook of revelations (Archaeopoetics of ‘Dr. Zhivago’. 2)”, Kul’tura i tekst, no. 12, pp. 6–67.
5. Fateeva, N.A. (2003), Poet i proza [Poet and prose], Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie, Moscow, Russia.
6. Fleishman, L. (1977), Stat’i o Pasternake [Articles about Pasternak], K-presse, Bremen, Germany.
7. Józsa, D.Z. (2013), “The panacea novel. Asclepius as a prototype of doctor Zhivago (raising the question)”, Kul’tura i tekst, no. 2, pp. 7–41.
8. Polivanov, K.M. (2024), “Doktor Zhivago” kak istoricheskii roman [“Dr. Zhivago” as a historical novel], Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie, Moscow, Russia.
9. Silant’ev, I.V. (2024), Teoriya motiva i problemy motivnogo analiza [Motif theory and problems of motif analysis], Izdatel’skii dom “YaSK”, Moscow, Russia.
10. Smirnov, I.P. (1996), Roman tain “Doktor Zhivago” [A novel of mysteries “Dr. Zhivago”], Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie, Moscow, Russia.
11. Sukhanova, I.A. (2005), Struktura teksta romana B.L. Pasternaka “Doktor Zhivago” [The structure of the text of B.L. Pasternak’s “Doctor Zhivago”], Yaroslavskii gosudarstvennyi pedagogicheskii universitet im. K.D. Ushinskogo, Yaroslavl, Russia.
12. Tyupa, V.I., ed. (2014), Poetika “Doktora Zhivago” v narratologicheskom prochtenii [Poetics of “Dr. Zhivago” in narratological reading], Intrada, Moscow, Russia.
13. Zholkovsky, A.K. (2011), Poetika Pasternaka: invarianty, struktury, interteksty [Pasternak’s poetics. Invariants, structures, intertexts], Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie, Moscow, Russia.
Review
For citations:
Shishkina E.A. The leitmotif of illness in the novel “Doctor Zhivago” by B. Pasternak. RSUH/RGGU Bulletin: “Literary Teory. Linguistics. Cultural Studies”, Series. 2025;(2):60-68. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.28995/2686-7249-2025-2-60-68
Views:
20
Email this article 