Celestial Fire: the Fictional Universe of Olesya Nikolayevaʼs Stories
In the 21stcentury, Russia sees the zenith of Orthodox writers. A researcher I. Leonov maintains that the main peculiarity of Orthodox prose is its theocentric character. It means that the writer and some of the characters treat God as the center of the universe, which defines the poetics of theocentric prose fiction. Theocentric prose is different from modern prose. There are tens of writers whose books have been numerously republished. However, the absence of an established terminology hampers the investigation of theocentric prose. According to V. E. Khalizev, to fully analyze prose, to see its unique character, to assess it in a wider literary context, one should understand the fictional universe. Investigating fictional universes, one analyzes the system of characters, the peculiarities of their speech and behavior patterns, space and time correlations, the plot in its functions. Olesya Nikolayeva maintains that her prose is a new reality. According to the writer, the world is theocentric: space, time and people are closely related with the eternity. The mundane and the miraculous are intricately connected. Her texts are completed with Scripture quotes and quotations from common prayers. She focuses on literary and extra-literary tasks. All events are related to the I-am-here-and-now situation. The storyteller is involved with the life of other characters. She is one of those who makes mistakes, doubts, and repents. The storyteller is somewhere in between the author and the characters. The stylistic plurality helps create an encyclopedic system of characters. Godʼs will influences the plot as well as the will of characters. Theocentric prose has been actively developing through the recent decades. There are modern writers who depict the world as Godʼs creation and humans as a part of God-created universe.