The narrative presence effect in contemporary Russian prose: the novel “Children of the Volga” by G. Yakhina in relation to certain post-postmodernist concepts

The novel “Children of the Volga” by G. Yakhina represents contemporary fiction with distinct anti-postmodernist tendencies. For example, the novel features an ironic-free representation of metaphysical elements that cannot be explained from the perspective of the principles governing fantasy within literary works, nor its connection with magical realism as an artistic method justified. The aim of this article is to provide an alternative explanation for how these metaphysical connotations are conveyed to the recipient. Its scientific novelty lies in considering the mediated communication of metaphysical connotations to the reader through narrative organization as a narrative effect marked by the quality of presence (“Präsenz”), following R. Hermann’s interpretation of the concept within his analysis of modern paradigms of presence theory. As a result, it has been established that applying this philosophical methodology to a contemporary novel allows one to explain the transmission of metaphysical connotations to its recipients from the standpoint of some tenets of well-known post-postmodernist concepts.