RIVER IN THE WORKS BY M. F. ISTOMIN: ON THE PROBLEM OF MODELING THE IMAGE OF THE NORTH IN THE WORKS OF KOMI WRITERS OF THE XIX CENTURY

The works of Mikhail Fedorovich Istomin (1821-1862) are part of the unexplored and, until recently, not included in the history of Komi literature material - essays created by Komi writers of the XIX century in Russian language. Meanwhile, the work of M. Istomin is very representative both in terms of the formation of General regional characteristic of all the literature of the North, and the ways of familiarizing Komi intelligentsia to literary work. The analysis of works of M. Istomin made in this work, allows to judge about actual for the writer-“foreigner” of the XIX century connection to all-regional and all-Russian literary process, and also about a problem of creation of a native literary portrait for different people of the North. The description of the territory, its geographical and climatic features, the creation of descriptions of places was chosen by the writer as a priority, the most important task of creativity. This allows him to embody fragments of the Northern world through the focus of view of autochthon, to identify and record the most important, especially important for the northerner, locations and objects of environment. The writer paid special attention to the rivers as the most important geographical and natural attractions of the region. In essence, the North in the essays of M. Istomin takes the form of world saturated with many waters. The writer is far from symbolizing natural objects, does not endow their images with figurative meanings, at the same time, many descriptions of different rivers in his essays indicate the movement of regional and Komi literature by the way of creation its own concept of the North as a natural environment-centered world.