SPIRITUAL “PORTRAIT” OF THE RUSSIAN PEOPLE THROUGH THE EYES OF A CHILD IN THE STORIES OF I.S. SHMELEV 1934-1937
This article reveals the features of the artistic embodiment of the spiritual «portrait» of the Russian people in the stories of the writer of the first half of the XX century I.S. Shmelev “Unprecedented dinner”, “Martin and Kinga”, “Lampadochka” and “Fear”, created in 1934-1937. In the studied texts, the author chooses a special narrative discourse, in which folk images are presented from the point of view of the autobiographical hero - a child. The plot of the works is based on the writer's childhood memories. The worldview of the child hero, which is the basis of the artistic structure of the stories, is characterized by limited knowledge of the depicted events and actions of adult characters. As a result, folk images recreated in texts get a humorous color. The brightness and originality of speech characteristics testifies to the writer's high skill in portraying folk characters. The spiritual and moral «portrait» of the Russian people presented in these works contains characteristics of honesty, openness, sincerity, decency, righteousness and deep faith in God.