Журнал «Филоlogos»

WHAT IS STRONGER THAN DEATH AND FATE - SWEET ANKOVSKY PIE": LEO TOLSTOY'S MYTH IN GASTRONOMIC DISCOURSE

Author: Abramova V.I., Arkhangelskaya Ju.V.

The article is devoted to the analysis of representations of Leo Tolstoy′s myth in the domestic gastronomic discourse. The authors examine two culinary topics related to the personality of Leo Tolstoy: firstly, the cookbook of his wife Sofia Andreevna and, secondly, vegetarianism, which the writer came to in the late period of his life. The most famous dish from the "Cookbook of S.A. Tolstoy" is Anke's pie, or Ankovsky pie. Three portable chamber meanings (understandable only to close people) of this name, reflecting the philosophy of L. Tolstoy, are being studied: 1) the entire set of family traditions brought into the house of L.N. Tolstoy by his wife S.A. Tolstoy; 2) any family traditions and foundations in which the convenience of life and comfort are given decisive importance; 3) aristocratic or bourgeois way of life, belief in the need for material well-being and the inviolability of the existing system; a symbol of lordly, noble well-being, satiety. It is noted that in the indicated meanings this chamber unit is found in the writer′s letters and in the memoirs of his family members. In modern gastronomic discourse, the name "Ankovsky pie" has turned into a culinary brand that is actively used in Tula and the Tula region. The second culinary theme associated with the personality of Leo Tolstoy is vegetarianism, which the writer perceived in spiritual and moral terms as a rejection of excesses, following the commandment "Thou shalt not kill" and the path to self-improvement. In the chamber phraseology of L.N. Tolstoy's family, in connection with his culinary asceticism, stable expressions appeared: "(someone) is not able to eat those chickens that he knew by sight"; "vegetarian cravings". Thanks to the famous statement of V.I. Lenin, who criticized the late Tolstoy, the phrase "rice cutlets" acquired symbolic meanings (vegetarianism and Tolstoyism). The stable association "Tolstoy - vegetarianism" is represented in fiction (the novel by I. Ilf and E. Petrov "The Twelve Chairs") and in modern advertising discourse (the mythologized story on the influence of I.I. Mechnikov on Tolstoy's nutrition). Interest in the life and work of Tolstoy was reflected in the names of confectionery products and catering establishments.

Key words:
Leo Tolstoy's myth; gastronomic discourse; chamber phraseology; Ankovsky pie; vegetarianism; restaurant