The historical novel in contemporary literature: typology and transformation of genre forms

The aim of the study is to develop a universal classification of subgenres of the historical novel based on an analysis of existing theoretical approaches and contemporary literary practices. The article pays special attention to the problem of defining genre boundaries and identifying invariant features of the historical novel. Four principal subgenres are singled out and characterized: the historiosophical novel, the historiographic metanovel, the alternate-history novel, and the historio-centric novel. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the fact that, for the first time within a single research project, the specific features of the poetics of each subgenre and their modes of engagement with historical material are generalized and compared using texts by V. O. Pelevin, S. A. Shargunov, and A. A. Prokhanov as examples. The study establishes the rhizomatic structure of the historical novel as a genre and its capacity to generate new subgenre forms. The four main subgenres identified are the historiosophical novel, the historiographic metanovel, the alternate-historical novel, and the historio-centric novel. The principal differential criterion between these genres is the manner of handling historical material. In contemporary Russian literature, the identified subgenres may occur in a pure form, intersect with one another, or overlap with the core genre of the historical novel. The results contribute to genre theory and promote a deeper understanding of processes of genre formation in contemporary literature.