The image of Grigory Melekhov in the cultural lighting: hypothetical view from the XXI century
In this article, for the first time in the Russian Sholokhov studies, the central character of Sholokhov's novel And Quiet Flows the Don (Tikhii Don) is analyzed from the cultural studies standpoint. The image of Gregory Melekhov, the bearer of Russian and Turkish blood, is deeply philosophically comprehended by the author, being directly connected with the continuity of the traditions of Russian social thought, classical literature and art, primarily with the works of A.S. Pushkin. "The son of harmony" claimed the need to bring the West and the East closer together as the most important problem of their balance in the fate of Russian history and culture. Creatively inheriting the tradition, Sholokhov conveyed in And Quiet Flows the Don the harmonic balance in the origins of Grigory Melekhov, asserting his "man's charm". Possessing the "man's charm", Gregory at the same time discovered the type of true and truth-seeking "wandering" and "coming" heroes characteristic of the socio-cultural life of the 20th and 21st centuries, which legitimately introduced him into the gallery of "eternal images" of world literature and art. In a particular fact in Grigory Melekhov's pedigree, the writer-classic invited contemporaries and descendants to comprehend the geopolitical and sociocultural destiny of Russia, contributing to the dream of the reunification of cultures, of a one-man humanity that preserves national-individual traits.