Russian classical literature in the novel “The Noise of Time” by Julian Barnes: Strategies of representation

Abstract

The paper is devoted to the analysis of the novel “The Noise of Time” by Julian Barnes through the lens of Russian classical literature. The aim of the study is to determine the role of the Russian classical literature of the XIX century and the strategies of its representation in “The Noise of Time”. The novel unusually depicts biography of D. D. Shostakovich, Barnes’ favourite Russian composer. The work emphasises and describes the main characteristics of the English writer’s poetics, as well as the literary devices he employs: intertextuality, fragmentation, fabulation and irony. Main attention is paid to the analysis of the intertextual references to Russian literature in “The Noise of Time”. In the novel, the reader can discover references and quotations from the short stories “The Overcoat” and “The Nose” by N. V. Gogol, the article “Hamlet and Don Quixote” by I. S. Turgenev, the short story “A Letter to a Learned Neighbor” by A. P. Chekhov and others, which additionally shed light on the main character’s image. The originality of the study lies in identifying the specific role of Russian classical literature in the imaginary world of “The Noise of Time”. As a result, it has been demonstrated that Russian literature is presented in the novel as an important aspect of Russian culture, as well as world culture and has made a tremendous impact on Barnes’ creative life.