ETHICAL DOMINANTS OF D. YEMETS’S FANTASY (BASED ON THE NOVELS OF THE «METHODIUS BUSLAEV» SERIES)

ABSTRACT

The article examines the problem of the ethical content of modern Russian teenage fantasy based on the example of the cycle of novels by D. Yemets "Methodius Buslaev". The author draws a conclusion about the positive value content of the studied works, noting such ethical dominants as freedom of choice, the value of the soul, love and self-sacrifice. The work will be interesting for teachers and anyone interested in the fantasy genre.

Keywords: axiology, ethical dominants, D. Yemets, teenage fantasy, "Methodius Buslaev".

The study of literature in contemporary literary criticism is inconceivable outside the axiological approach, which views a literary text as a complex system of semantic orientations. In this context, the notion of an "ethical dominant" functions not merely as a thematic element of a work, but as a fundamental structure-forming factor that determines the ideological unity of the text and the logic of development of the fictional world. In the fantasy genre, characterised by a high degree of metaphorical expression and explicit opposition of value poles, the identification of such dominants becomes the key to understanding the author's conception of existence.

The fantasy genre is among the most popular genres of mass literature, especially among adolescents and young adults. This entails the necessity of studying the ethical frameworks that the young reader may derive from works in this genre. It is precisely this issue that we intend to address in our work, offering a brief overview of the ethical dominants in the oeuvre of D. Yemets, specifically in the series of novels about Methodius Buslaev.

Dmitry Yemets’s cycle of novels about Methodius Buslaev (19 volumes) represents a unique phenomenon in Russian adolescent literature. While ostensibly adhering to the fantasy canon of the confrontation between Light and Darkness, the writer constructs a complex ethical universe in which traditional binary oppositions are systematically eroded, giving way to a multidimensional exploration of the nature of moral choice. Drawing on the theoretical works of M.M. Bakhtin, L.Ya. Ginzburg, and D.S. Likhachev, who laid the foundations for the study of moral and ethical aspects in literature, one can trace how, from book to book, the key ethical dominants that organise the artistic world of the cycle and determine the trajectory of the protagonists' spiritual development crystallise.

Already in the first novel, «The Midnight Magician», the central problem of free will is set forth, conceived in the spirit of Bakhtin’s philosophy of the act. Methodius Buslaev, born at the moment of a solar eclipse, finds himself in a situation where his decision carries ontological weight. M.M. Bakhtin wrote of the «non-alibi in being» – the impossibility of evading responsible action – and the young hero is compelled to define his position in a world where both Light and Darkness lay claim to his gift. As the philosopher observed, «only the recognition of my unique participancy from my unique place gives a real centre for the origin of the act and makes the beginning non-accidental»[2, p. 41]; it is precisely this uniqueness of Methodius’s place – between warring worlds yet belonging fully to neither – that turns each of his decisions into an act with irreversible consequences. Significantly, neither side is unequivocally appealing: the Guardians of Light sometimes appear as cruel bureaucrats, while Arey, the Guardian of Darkness, possesses a code of honour.

The central symbol becomes the eidos – the «spark of eternity», the soul that cannot be taken by force but may be lost through deception or a deal. The loss of the eidos means the loss of eternity, freedom, and individuality, and around the protection of this value all conflicts in the cycle revolve. Here it is apt to recall Bakhtin’s category of the «other»: it is precisely through the relation to the other, through the recognition of his unconditional value, that a genuinely moral act is accomplished. The Guardians of Darkness, hunting for eides, deprive the «other» of his essence, turning him into an empty shell, whereas love affirms the other in his uniqueness. As Bakhtin writes in «Author and Hero in Aesthetic Activity», «only in correlation with the other is the fullness of diversity possible» [1, p.146]; this formula accurately describes the relationship between Methodius and Daphne – two marginal figures from warring worlds who find support in each other.

The second novel, «The Scroll of Desires», translates the global confrontation into the intimate sphere of forbidden love. Arey formulates an absolute law: «A Guardian of Darkness has no right to love a Guardian of Light. For this, the punishment is the harshest. You are stripped of your essence, leaving only pain and fear» [10, p.321]. Yet it is precisely this feeling between Methodius and Daphne that becomes the main driver of the plot and the source of tragic tension. Here, for the first time, the theme of self-sacrifice is fully revealed: Daphne, playing for Methodius the magolody of love and fidelity, transfers to him a part of her eternity, rendering herself vulnerable.

In the fourth book, «Ticket to Bald Mountain», the story of Ulita unfolds, who faces a choice between regaining her own eidos or bargaining for Arey’s freedom. Her refusal of personal salvation for the sake of another marks the transition from love as possession to love as service. As Essiorkh remarks in «The Map of Chaos»: «A person may reform if he wishes, and not by himself, but by asking for help from the light and receiving it, but not a Guardian of Darkness» [9, p.386]. However, Ulita’s deeds, and subsequently Arey’s own actions, gradually refute this verdict, demonstrating that even in darkness glimpses of light are possible.

The series consistently debunks the romanticisation of evil. In «The Ladder to Eden», a distinction is introduced between genuine goodness and «niceness»: «A good person is good always and to everyone – to enemies and friends alike. A nice person, however, is good according to mood, with hysterical outbursts, mainly to friends, and even then depending on which foot he got up on» [8, p.387]. Darkness may be «nice» or sentimental, but it is incapable of genuine good. The romanticisation of evil often appeals to this fleeting kindness, yet the author refuses to recognise such inclination as truly luminous.

The culmination of the cycle’s ethical development comes in the book «Dance of the Sword», where Arey, who all his life served as an instrument of darkness, consciously places himself in the path of his pupil’s blow. His death is not a defeat but an act of liberation, as Essiorkh explains: «Arey understood that for him this was the only path. You have become merely an instrument» [7, p.401]. Methodius, for his part, casts aside the sword, which has become alien to him: «Just a sharpened piece of iron, if you think about it. Their connection was broken, snapped like an umbilical cord» [7, p.399]. This is a break with the legacy of darkness, made possible only through inner transformation.

«The Gates of Fire» and «The Book of Seven Roads» elevate the problematic to a metaphysical level. In «The Book of Seven Roads», the heroes find themselves in an illusory world created by necromancers who fancied themselves gods. The ethical breakthrough occurs when the seven refuse to play by the rules of mutual annihilation. Methodius places his hand palm upward and promises: «I do not know how things will turn out, but I promise that I will kill none of you. Even if the book very much wants it!» [5, p.389]. This gesture of metaphysical disobedience destroys the fabric of the illusory world, affirming that the freedom to say «no» to murder remains with a person even in an absurd and cruel space.

In the final book of the series, «The Best Enemy», Arey’s path reaches its conclusion: the swordsman, once exiled from Eden, attains redemption through a tear of compassion: «Arey felt that until the moment this solitary tear was born in him, the artefact had not even considered him alive» [4, p.402]. His afterlife – a «sealed moment» with his wife and daughter – becomes neither punishment nor reward, but an act of supreme justice: eternity in a single instant of happiness, where there is no time for new falls, but there is the fullness of love.

L.Ya. Ginzburg, in her book «On Psychological Prose», demonstrated how nineteenth-century literature overcame the Romantic antithesis of good and evil by introducing psychological conditionality and a multiplicity of motivations. D. Yemets, working in the genre of adolescent fantasy, follows this tradition: his characters do not fit into unequivocal moral schemata. As Ginzburg noted in her works, «the artistic creation of the image of a person is at the same time its evaluation, which constructs the image from within» [3, p.358]; it is precisely this that creates moral and ethical tension in the heroes, compelling the reader to carefully assess their actions.

Thus, in analysing the ethical norms within the universe of the «Methodius Buslaev» cycle, we have identified the following primary dominants: freedom of choice, which entails not abstract but quite concrete and irreversible consequences of the heroes’ actions; the value of the eidos, or soul, as a symbol of eternity and abstract good; self-sacrifice and love, which overcome ancient prohibitions and even death; the debunking of the romance of evil, which possesses no essence of its own but merely parasitises on light; and finally, the idea of gradual spiritual rebirth, which requires not a single heroic act but slow, daily labour, honesty, and openness. This is expressed by Daphne in the novel «The Glass Guardian»: «It is simply that a person becomes saturated with light slowly. And he changes slowly too... » [5, p.389]. This, perhaps, is the chief ethical lesson of the cycle, addressed to the maturing reader: the path to light is not a momentary illumination, but a long road full of doubts and falls, on which the only reliable compass remains the capacity to love and to sacrifice oneself for another.

References:

1. Bakhtin M.M. Author and Hero: Toward the Philosophical Foundations of the Humanities. – St. Petersburg: ABC, 2000. – 332 p.
2. Bakhtin M.M. Toward a Philosophy of the Act // Bakhtin M.M. Collected Works: in 7 vols. – Moscow: Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2003. Vol. 1. – P. 7-68.
3. Ginzburg L.Ya. On Psychological Prose. – Moscow: ABC, 1999. – 701 p.
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6. Yemets D.A. The Glass Guardian. – Moscow: Eksmo, 2009. – 368 p.
7. Yemets D.A. Dance of the Sword. – Moscow: Eksmo, 2011. – P. 401.
8. Yemets D.A. The Ladder to Eden. – Moscow: Eksmo, 2009. – 406 p.
9. Yemets D.A. The Map of Chaos. – Moscow: Eksmo, 2018. – 393 p.
10. Yemets D.A. The Scroll of Desires. – Moscow: Eksmo, 2017. – 382 p.