VASILEVA S., PAVLOVA E. INTERPRETATION OF THE BIBLICAL MYTH OF FRATRICIDE IN THE CONTEXT OF JOHN STEINBECK’S NOVEL EAST OF EDEN // Studia Humanitatis Borealis. 2023. Vol. 1. № 4. P. 17‒23.

DOI: 10.15393/j12.art.2023.4023


Issue № 4

CULTURAL STUDIES

INTERPRETATION OF THE BIBLICAL MYTH OF FRATRICIDE IN THE CONTEXT OF JOHN STEINBECK’S NOVEL EAST OF EDEN

VASILEVA
   Svetlana
Candidate of Philosophical Sciences,
Associate Professor of the Department of Germanic Philology and Scandinavistics,
Petrozavodsk State University, Institute of Philology,
Petrozavodsk, Russian Federation, milorada07@mail.ru
PAVLOVA
   Ekaterina
Master degree candidate,
Petrozavodsk State University, Institute of Philology,
Petrozavodsk, Russian Federation, hilfcol88@yandex.ru
Ключевые слова:
John Steinbeck
"East of Eden"
archaic myth
myth of fratricide
intertextuality
precedent text
abhorrence
will
choice
Аннотация: This article attempts to interpret intertextual elements from the Old Testament myth of fratricide in John Steinbeck's novel "East of Eden". The biblical text is considered as one of the most universal precedent phenomena, as well as a variant of the pretext within the framework of the theory of intertextuality. It was concluded that in J. Steinbeck’s novel the appeal to the biblical myth is a plot-forming element; the myth of fratricide plays a key role in the text and organizes the semantic layer of the novel. Through an appeal to the Old Testament story of Cain and Abel, J. Steinbeck explores such axiological categories as abhorrence, free will, sin and redemption, and also asks the question of whether a person is able to resist what is destined for him.

© Petrozavodsk State University

Is received: 25 december 2023 year
Is passed for the press: 25 december 2023 year

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