The Poetics of Mysticism in Lyudmila Ulitskaya’s Prose

We often find the Soviet past at core of Lyudmila Ulitskaya’s works, and most critics agree that description everyday life historicity are fundamental principles her prose. Nonetheless, episodes which record characters’ mystical experiences play a fairly significant part in works. However, they receive considerably less attention research on oeuvre. In this paper, author focuses component novels recent short stories attempts to define thematic structural characteristics episodes. first reviews constant elements different These primarily connected with encountering death based character’s borderline position permeability frontier between “reality” afterworld. This is marked out by recurrent motifs, symbolically bestow upon meaning transformation (transubstantiation) revival. From point view, delineation two worlds can be explained, among others, through fantasy. second article examines aspect works reference Tzvetan Todorov’s concept, defines fantastical as an interim phenomenon “uncanny” “miraculous”. The examined here rational explanation (dream, hallucination before dying, psychological disorder), cancels their fantastic nature. As result duality simultaneous uncertainty about judging experience, categorised “fantastical uncanny”. When these from view properties genuinely texts, we “profane mysticism”, neutrality narrator’s discourse, blurriness difference what real supernatural, proximity author’s positions.