An encounter with a mysterious creature as a plot-forming element in literary fairy tales of the early 20th century

The article is devoted to the study of the reception of the archetypal plot about a meeting with a mysterious creature in some fairy tales of Russian writers of the twentieth century, which reveals how differently the folklore and literary traditions evolved in accordance with the artistic tasks set by the writers. The purpose and relevance of our work are defined by the necessity to explore how A.N. Tolstoy, L.A. Charskaya, M.A. Osorgin rethought one of the archetypal plots in their work, as well as research into national traditions of children's reading and create a more complete history of Russian fiction. The study is based on an integrated approach, including the use of comparative-historical, historical-literary, descriptive-analytical methods. The artistic images of the fairy tales of A.N. Tolstoy, L.A. Charskaya, M.A. Osorgin are analyzed; their individual-authorial content is determined, reflecting the synthesis of folklore, mythical and realistic plans of the narrative. It is demonstrated that, in accordance with tradition, the primary artistic images, key motifs (meeting with a mystical creature, non-observance of the prohibition and subsequent punishment, violation of the boundary between the human cosmos and the world of evil spirits) and elements of the archetypal plot about the water maiden (mermaid) are preserved in the considered literary fairy tales. It is found that, despite the apparent similarity in the images of the main characters, plot lines, motifs, chronotopes with mythological, folklore, literary canons, the authors, whose fairy tales constitute the material of the study, developed plots and created artistic images that have unique individual qualities and characteristics.