Novatorstvo i tradicija v rannem tvorčestve Michaila Šiškina (rasskaz Urok kalligrafii i roman Vsech ožidaet odna noč’)

The article deals with the problem of interaction between Russian literary tradition and literary novelty in early works by Mikhail Shishkin, namely his short story “Calligraphy lesson” and his novel “One Night Awaits Everyone” (both published in 1993). It is underlined that already at the beginning of Shishkin’s career topics and motives typical for his later prose can be traced; his individual writing style, combining postmodernist writing techniques with aestheticism contents, is also quite recognizable. Shishkin creates an open dialogue with the tradition, while not only using the language and plot samples peculiar to the Russian realist novel of the 19th century, but also trying, with the help of the narrative, to re-build the integrity of the distorted outer world and to win over physical death and oblivion. Thus, his early works represent “a compromise” between postmodern literary achievements and classical Russian literature.