THE EXPRESSIONS OF INTERTEXTUALITY IN VAZGEN SHUSHANIAN’S NOVEL “THE SAIL OF DEATH”

The novel “The Sail of Death,” published in “Hairenik” monthly in Boston in 1926 stands out in V. Shushanian’s creative system for its unique structural features and sharp literary and cultural questions. Shushanian’s influence from both Armenian and international symbolists is evident in the novel. The writer freely draws from the creative heritage of V. Teryan, G . Rodenbach, and H. Heine. These intertextual interpenetrations highlight the author’s preferences as well as perform an important semantic function. The themes of life, death, love, dream and reality are central in the novel. In this diary novel, the writer has set himself a difficult task: to examine the inner world of women, putting on paper the most delicate feelings of the diary-keeping heroine. With the help of the diary of the heroine, Siranush Manukian, the events of the novel unfold, and the tragic love story of Siranush and Suren Sargisian is drawn. The novel has an autobiographical nature. By comparing the biographical facts of the lyrical hero, it becomes clear that the author portrayed himself. Suren is just V. Shushanyan.