ДУХОВНОЕ ИЗМЕРЕНИЕ МИРА ГЕРОЯ В РАССКАЗЕ АЛЕКСАНДРА КУПРИНА "АНАФЕМА"

This article focuses on interpretation of the short story “Anathema” by Alexander Kuprin from the point of view of the main hero’s spirituality. The protagonist Father Olimpiy finds himself in a difficult situation: he has to excommunicate Lev Tolstoy, his favourite writer, from the Orthodox Church. In Russian Literature Studies there is a thesis that the story is “not historical but based on pure fiction”. However, the authors of this article do not completely agree with this position and provide evidence that the short story is based on real events and people. In their interpretation of Father Olimpiy’s image they take into account such literary strategies, as unexpected plot changes and the method of contrast, which contribute to the transformation of the character. The authors emphasize that the main hero’s spiritual maturity takes place under the influence of Good and Beauty discovered by him in Tolstoy’s novel The Cossaks (Казаки).