Medical theme in Russian literature

The medical theme in Russian literature is presented very widely and diversely, which determines the relevance and novelty of this work. The aim of the study is to examine the features of the presentation of medical topics in Russian literature throughout its development, starting with Old Russian literature and ending with the literature of the 20^th–21st centuries. For this purpose, the comparative method and the method of analyzing artistic texts at the level of motive-figurative organization were used. As a result of the conducted research, the author came to the following conclusions. In Old Russian literature, the medical theme always has a religious character: illness is considered a punishment for sins or a test of the faith of the sick person. In the classic literature of the 18th century (A. Kantemir, D. Fonvizin), the image of a charlatan doctor who "treats" the same ignorant patients is presented. This is also connected with the peculiarities of the low genres in which this theme appears. In the 19th century in the literature of realism, the medical theme is widely spread due to its presentation from two points of view: the doctor and the patient. Attention is paid to both physical and mental illnesses. Some authors (N. Gogol) continue the tradition of humorous or satirical depictions of doctors and patients, while others (A. Herzen, L. Tolstoy, A. Chekhov) examine the change in the worldview of a doctor, who goes from an enthusiastic idealist to a greedy philistine. Most of the authors pay attention to the dramatic description of patients suffering from one or another illness, which also acts as a symbol of the illness of the whole society. In the 20th century, writers (M. Bulgakov, M. Zoshchenko, V. Shalamov) focus the reader's attention on the medical description of the disease, the hard work and emotional experiences of doctors, alternating it with the point of view of a patient suffering from one or another disease and changing his worldview because of this.

1. Solomonova AA. Medical theme in literature in the end of 19th – beg. of 21st century. Bulletin of the N. I. Lobachevsky Nizhny Novgorod University. 2014;2(3):309–313 (in Russian).

2. Andrianova ZA. Rereading "The Legend of Oleg's Death" ("The Tale of Bygone Years"). Scientific Notes of the P.M. Masherov UO VSU. 2003;(2):112–119 (in Russian).

3. Boldyreva EM. “Сharlatans from medicine” in the “Times of great tribulation” in the works by Lu Xun, A. Chekhov, M. Zoshchenko and V. Shalamov. Yaroslavl Pedagogical Bulletin. 2021;2(119):167–181 (in Russian). DOI 10.20323/1813-145X-2021-2-119-167-182.

4. Ivanshina EA. On Chekhov's doctors (system oppositions and plot functions). The World of Russian-speaking countries. 2022; 4(14):53–70 (in Russian). DOI 10.20323/2658-7866-2022-4-14-53-70.

5. Zakharov VN. Patient Dostoevsky. Unknown Dostoevsky. 2023;10(2):113–129 (in Russian). DOI 10.15393/j10.art.2023.6762.

6. Ionov AYu. Medical themes in the works by F.M. Dostoevsky. International Journal of Experimental Education. 2019;(6):47–51 (in Russian).

7. Volvenkin MN. War and medicine in Leo Tolstoy’s “The raid”: two doctors, two pathologies. Bulletin of the M. K. Ammosov North-Eastern Federal University. 2023;20(2):56–64 (in Russian). DOI 10.25587/SVFU.2023.98.36.005.

8. Tarasova AA. Features of the reflection of the theme of the disease in the stories and novellas of A.P. Chekhov. In: BEST RESEARCH PROJECT 2021: Collection of articles of the International Research Competition, Petrozavodsk, June 28, 2021. Petrozavodsk: International Center for Scientific Partnership "New Science", 2021:217–224 (in Russian).

9. Smirnova EM. A physician and the humanities. New Historical Bulletin. 2014; 3(41):161–175 (in Russian).

10. Ning Sh. The inverted world of mentally ill patients depicted by Russian and Chinese doctor-writers (based on the works of A. Chekhov and Lu Xun). Domestic Philology. 2024; 2:94–102 (in Russian). DOI 10.18384/2949-5008-2024-2-94-102.

11. Savushkina LV, Gruznova IV. Ethical portrait of a doctor in the works of V. Veresaev and M. Bulgakov. In: XLVI Ogarev readings: Proceedings of the scientific conference. In 3 parts, Saransk, December 6–13, 2017 / Responsible for the release P. V. Senin. Volume Part 3. Saransk: National Research N. P. Ogarev Mordovian State University, 2018:630–634 (in Russian).

12. Altunashvili NS. Medical vocabulary in A.Solzhenitsyn's story "Cancer Ward". International research journal. 2024;11(149):74 (in Russian). DOI 10.60797/IRJ.2024.149.32.