Структурно-семиотические и мифопоэтические доминанты «алматинского текста» в контексте русскоязычной прозы Казахстана

Елена Сергеевна Шмакова; Сауле Баязовна Бегалиева

doi:10.25178/nit.2026.3.20

Authors

Elena S. Shmakova M. Kh. Dulati Taraz University
Saule B. Begaliyeva Al-Farabi Kazakh National University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25178/nit.2026.3.20

Keywords:

urban text, local text, Alma-Ata, Almaty, Almaty text, semiotic analysis, mythopoetic dominant, author’s worldview, Russian-language prose of Kazakhstan, Kazakh literature

Abstract

The article investigates the genesis and structure of the phenomenon of the “urban text” through semiotic, cultural, anthropological, and literary approaches. In addition to the “urban text,” it considers the concept of the “local text” using the example of the “Almaty text.” The relevance of this object of study is determined by the multicultural character of Kazakhstani literature and its search for identity, within which the “Almaty text” emerges as a conceptualization of unique cultural loci, historical and mythological dominants that reflect authors’ worldviews and give rise to a specific literary type of the city dweller. The material for the study comprises prose works by contemporary Russian-language writers of Kazakhstan: D. Nakipov, E. Klepikova, I. Odegova, L. Kalaus, Yu. Serebryansky, and M. Zemsky.

The article identifies and analyzes the key components of the “Almaty text”: cultural-historical dominants that represent images of the city in the past and present; mythopoetic images associated with the city and its history; authors’ modes of world-perception, which shape the figurative system of the “Almaty text”; and a distinctive character system that includes typological images of urban characters, among which the city itself is also included.

It is shown that the historical component is interpreted differently in the texts: E. Klepikova employs an ironic context to depict Soviet realities, while D. Nakipov expresses aversion and sarcasm toward Soviet power through his interpretation of abbreviations, which represent the author’s position. The study confirms a tendency to endow the city with anthropomorphic features and with the status of a character within the works’ character system. The mythological dominant links the city with Tengrian mythology and with the image of the concentric city (after Yu. Lotman), forming sacral and evaluative meanings, with the motif of a lost paradise becoming the principal mythological dominant. It is established that perception of the city is directly dependent on the author, with a marked contrast between lyrical nostalgia, focused on the Soviet past, and skeptical attitudes that highlight contemporary realities of mass culture.

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