Prolegomena to a Cognitive and Semiotic Study of the Moscow Text in 21st-Century Russian Literature

Abstract

The article offers theoretical prerequisites to a cognitive and semiotic description of the Moscow text in 21st-century Russian literature. The concept of super-text or invariable recur­rent text structure is introduced and applied to textual representations of cities. The Moscow text is distinguished from the first urban super-text of Russian literature, the Saint-Petersburg text. The myths and common motifs forming the Moscow text are elucidated. I suggest that a practical description of the Moscow text can be made on the basis of the literary works con­stituting the Russian literary canon. This ensures the conformity of linguistics and literary studies within the framework of general semiotics. Hence the article starts with the basics of the Moscow text found in 19th-century fiction, moves on to the components it acquired in the 20th century, and ultimately explores the specifics of 21st-century textual representations. The proposed strategy of semiotic interpretation of super-texts is suitable for describing com­plex mental constructs.