hd1

The Category ‘Time’ in V.Ya. Brusov’s Novella ‘The Sisters’

  • PDF
  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.37816/2073‑9567‑2026‑79‑114‑130
  • УДК / UDC: 821.161.1.09
  • Publication Type: Research Article
  • For Citation:

    Koroleva, V.V., Pritomskaya, A.R. “The Category ‘Time’ in V.Ya. Brusov’s Novella ‘The Sisters’.” Vestnik slavianskikh kul’tur, vol. 79, 2026, pp. 114–130. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.37816/2073‑9567‑2026‑79‑114‑130 
  • Author 1: Vera V. Koroleva
  • Information about the Author 1:

    Vera V. Koroleva — DSc in Philology, Associate Pro‑ fessor, Head of the Department of the Second Foreign Language and Methods of Teach‑ ing Foreign Languages, Vladimir State University, Stroitelei Ave., 11, 600024 Vladimir, Russia.

    ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000‑0002‑7608‑9772

    E‑mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 
  • Author 2: Alina R. Pritomskaya
  • Information about the Author 2:

    Alina R. Pritomskaya — Assistant, Vladimir State University, Vladimir State Univer‑ sity, Stroitelei Ave., 11, 600024 Vladimir, Russia.

    ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0009‑0006‑0948‑770X

    E‑mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 
  • Abstract: The paper presents a comprehensive study of the category “time” in V.Y. Bryusov's novella “Sisters”. It is suggested that the passage of time in the novel is disrupted by the strong emotional experiences of the characters (a vicious connection), which creates a personal temporal breakdown (a feeling of falling out of time as a result of slowing down, accelerating or shifting the timeline), the cause of which is an unnatural alternate acceleration and deceleration of the timeline (periods of acceleration and retardation). V.Ya. Bryusov portrays a state of mind confronted with temporal breakdown and the unnatural passage of time through descriptions of the unhealthy, borderline state of the characters (delusions, visions, suicide, murder, infanticide). The paper describes the means of creating a personal temporal breakdown: lexical (direct lexical time markers, adverbs and verbs with fast and slow action semantics); syntactic (parcel, change of narrative rhythm, anaphora) and stylistic (repetitions, sound recording). There are a number of loci (“house”, “field”, “road”), as well as the image‑ symbol of a snowstorm, influencing the passage of time in the artistic space of the novel. The study concludes that the result of a temporal breakdown in the story is a break in the timeline of the characters and an exit into the space of immensity (death).
  • Keywords: category “time”, symbolism, temporal breakdown, locus, intertext.
  • Страницы / Pages: 114–130
  • Received: May 18, 2025
  • Approved after Reviewing: October 15, 2025
  • Publication Date: March 25, 2026

  • 1 Andreeva, O.A. Interpretatsiia poniatiia vremeni v khudozhestvennoi teorii i praktike russkogo simvolizma [Interpretation of the Concept of Time in the Artistic Theory and Practice of Russian Symbolism: PhD Dissertation Thesis]. Moscow, 2004. 173 p. (In Russ.)

    2 Assman, A. Raspalas' sviaz' vremen? Vzlet i padenie temporal'nogo rezhima Mod‑ erna [Has the Link of Time Broken up? The Rise and Fall of the Temporal Regime of Modernity], trans. from Germany by B. Khlebnikov. Moscow, Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie Publ., 2017. 272 p. (In Russ.)

    3 Bakhtin, M.M. “Formy vremeni i khronotopa v romane. Ocherki po istoricheskoi poetike” [“Forms of Time and Chronotope in the Novel. Essays on Historical Poet‑ ics”]. Voprosy literatury i estetiki [Issues of Literature and Aesthetics]. Moscow, Khodozhestvennaia literature Publ., 1975, pp. 121–290. (In Russ.)

    4 Vasil'eva, S.A., Sorochan, A.Iu., editors. Bezvremen'e kak siuzhet: stat'i i materialy [Timelessness as a Plot: Articles and Materials]. Tver, Izdatel'stvo M. Batasovoi, 2017. 340 p. (In Russ.)

    5 Gullakyan, S.A. “Predmetnyy mir v sbornikakh V.Y. Bryusova ‘Zemnaya os’ i ‘Nochi i dni’” [“The Objective World in the Collections of V.Y. Bryusov ‘The Earth axis’ and ‘Nights and Days’”]. Briusovskie chteniia 1996 goda: sbornik statei [Bryusov Readings 1996: Collection of Articles], ed. S.T. Zolyan [and other]. Yerevan, Lingva Publ., 2001, pp. 53–61. (In Russ.)

    6 Dubinina, L.A. “Poetika novelly V. Bryusova ‘Sestry (iz sudebnykh zagadok)’” [“The Poetics of V. Bryusov’s Novella ‘Sisters (from Judicial Riddles)’”]. Vestnik Vestnik slavianskikh kul’tur. 2026. Vol. 79 Philological sciences 129 Omskogo gosudarstvennogo pedagogicheskogo universiteta, Gumanitarnyye issle‑ dovaniya, no. 3 (7), 2015, pp. 37–40. (In Russ.)

    7 Il’yev, S.P. “Mifopoeticheskaya osnova knigi rasskazov ‘Zemnaya os’’ Valeriya Bry‑ usova” [“The Mythopoeic Basis of the Book of Short Stories ‘The Earth Axis’ by Valery Bryusov”]. Serebryanyy vek: dialog kul’tur: sbornik nauchnykh statei po mate‑ rialam nauchnoi konferentsii, posvyashchennoy pamyati professora S.P. Il’eva [Silver Age: Dialogue of Cultures: Collection of Scientific Papers Based on the Proceed‑ ings of the Scientific Conference Dedicated to the Memory of Professor S.P. Ilyev]. Odessa, Astroprint Publ., 2007, pp. 15–34. (In Russ.)

    8 Iskrzhitskaia, I.Iu. “Kriterii sovremennosti v tvorchestve V. Briusova” [“The Cri‑ terion of Modernity in the Work of V. Bryusov”]. Briusovskie chteniia 2002 goda: sbornik statei [Brusov Readings 2002: Collection of Articles]. Erevan, Lingva Publ., 2004, pp. 130–138. (In Russ.)

    9 Kalmykova, V.V. Teoretiko-literaturnye vzgliady V.Ia. Briusova [Theoretical and Literary Views of V.Y. Bryusov: PhD Dissertation Thesis]. Moscow, 2007. 157 p. (In Russ.)

    10 Kandybina, E.L.-A. Khudozhestvennoe mirozdanie A. Bloka: “Miry inye”, “Zhizn'”, “Dukh muzyki”, “Griadushchee” [The Artistic Universe of A. Blok: “Other Worlds”, “Life”, “The Spirit of Music”, “The Future”: PhD Dissertation Thesis]. Voronezh, 1998. 187 p. (In Russ.)

    11 Kikhnei, L.G., Tkacheva, N. Innokentii Annenskii. Veshchestvo sushchestvovaniia i obraz perezhivaniia [Innokenty Annensky. The Substance of Existence and the Image of Experience]. Moscow, Dialog-MGU, 1999. 124 p. (In Russ.)

    12 Kobzeva, N.V. Iazykovaia reprezentatsiia informatsionnogo polia metel' v khudozhestvennom tekste [Linguistic Representation of the Blizzard Information Field in a Literary Text: PhD Dissertation Thesis]. Tambov, 2012. 224 p. (In Russ.)

    13 Kol', F. “Drevnosti poeticheskogo slova: evoliutsionnoe i mifologicheskoe vremia u Briusova i Bal'monta” [“The Antiquities of the Poetic Word: the Evolutionary and Mythological Time of Bryusov and Balmont”]. Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie, no. 179, 2023, pp. 55–70. (In Russ.)

    14 Koroleva, V.V. “‘Gofmanovskii kompleks’ v tsikle rasskazov i dramaticheskikh stsen V. Ia. Briusova ‘Zemnaia os'’ (1901–1907)” [“The Hoffmann Complex in the Cycle of Short Stories and Dramatic Scenes by V.Y. Bryusov ‘The Earth's Axis’ (1901–1907)”]. Vestnik Kostromskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta, no. 3, 2019, pp. ­113–119. (In Russ.)

    15 Koroleva, V.V. “Andrevskii intertekst v rasskaze V.Ia. Briusova ‘Sestry’” [“Andrev's Intertext in V.Y. Bryusov's Short Story ‘Sisters’”]. Vestnik Iuzhno-Ural'skogo gosudastvennogo universiteta. Gumanitarnye nauki, no. 1, 2025, pp. 84–90. (In Russ.)

    16 Koroleva, V.V., Pritomskaia, A.R. “Sposoby sozdaniia kontsepta ‘temporal'nyi slom’ v povesti M.A. Bulgakova ‘D'iavoliada’” [“Ways to Create the Concept of ‘Tempo‑ ral Scrapping’ in M.A. Bulgakov's Novel ‘Diaboliad’”]. Vestnik slavianskikh kul'tur. vol. 74, 2024, pp. 131–145. (In Russ.)

    17 Larina, N.A. Miromodeliruiushchie universalii v maloi proze Leonida Andreeva i Valeriia Briusova [World-modeling Universals in the Short Prose of Leonid Andreev and Valery Bryusov: DSc Dissertation Thesis]. Moscow, 2018. 412 p. (In Russ.)

    18 Lebedeva, A.I. “Retardatsiia v drame (k utochneniiu poniatiia)” [“Retardation in Drama (To Clarify the Concept)”]. Otechestvennaia filologiia, no. 1, 2025, pp. ­110–121. (In Russ.)

    19 Nagina, K.A. “‘Metel'nyi’ mir v tvorchestve A. Bloka, A. Belogo, V. Briusova na fone literaturnoi traditsii” [“The ‘Blizzard’ World in the Works of A. Blok, A. Bely, V. Bryusov Against the Background of Literary Tradition”]. Vestnik Vestnik SanktPeterburgskogo universiteta. Iazyk i literature, no. 3, 2011, pp. 47–55. (In Russ.)

    20 Prokof'eva, V.Iu. “Kategoriia prostranstvo v khudozhestvennom prelomlenii: lokusy i toposy” [“Category Space in Artistic Refraction: Loci and Toposes”]. Vestnik Orenburgskogo gosudarstvennogo universitet, no. 11, 2005, pp. 87–94. (In Russ.)

     21 Shalygina, O.V. Fraktal vremeni v literature. Ontologiia i teleologiia khudozhestvennogo ritma [Fractal of Time in Literature. Ontology and Teleology of Artistic Rhythm]. Moscow, Buki Vedi Publ., 2021. 464 p. (In Russ.)

    22 Hartog, François Régimes d'historicité: présentisme et expériences du temps. Uni‑ versidad Iberoamericana. Paris, Editions du Seuil Publ., 2003. 257 p. (In French)

    23 Koselleck, Reinhart Futures Past: On the Semantics of Historical Time. New York, Columbia University Press, 2004. 317 p. (In English)

Current Issue