Book 49

(1885-1963) " ". 1920- , . , . , . , , , .

Nikolai Nikitin's work (1885-1963) is one of the least studied works of the heritage of the literary group "Serapion Brothers". This study is dedicated to the characteristic phenomena of Russian literature of the 1920s, which influenced Nikitin's early work. It concentrates on the ornamentalism and anti-rationalism in Nikitin's early prose, describing their origins and characteristic features. Ornamentalism deforms narrative structures using elements of poetic language; anti-rationalism accentuates the biological and intuitive foundations of existence. In addition to these aspects, Nikitin's style borrows from Zamyatin, Pilnyak and Shklovsky, but also has individual features connecting comic and grotesque with a pessimistic view on the existence of man.