Folklore motifs in the genre of Russian military spy novel

INTRODUCTION . An attempt is made to understand the genre dominants of the military spy novel by identifying folklore motifs within it as specific formulas for identifying the national cultural code, which contribute to the construction of the Russian military spy novel. The development and growth of the military spy novel genre occurred during the rise of interest in mass literature. Therefore, when considering the genre dominants of the military spy novel, attention is focused not only on the genre characteristics inherent to it as a subgenre of the spy novel, but also on the specifically national cultural codes embodied within it. The aim of the study is to identify folklore motifs in the genre of the Russian military spy novel. The aim defined the key task: comparing the military spy novel with the fairy tale, which, in our opinion, served as the primary source for many genre dominants in the representation of the national cultural code. MATERIALS AND METHODS . The leading research method is comparative-historical. The research material is Russian military spy novels from the second half of the 20th century to the beginning of the 21st century. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION . It has been established that, firstly, the genre structure of the Russian military spy novel contains fundamental genre formulas (according to V.Ya. Propp’s terminology, “character functions”) for constructing a fairy tale. Secondly, the fairytale formula is embodied in works written over different time periods, which indicates that folklore formulas reflect the national cultural code. CONCLUSION . The material, results, and general conclusions of the study can be used in university courses on literary theory, the history of 20th-century Russian literature, as well as in special courses dedicated to mass literature and the spy novel tradition.