Russian Classical Literature in Multi-ethnic Environment: The Issues of Reception and Methodology of Teaching

The problem of the existence of Russian classical literature in the foreign readers’ minds is regarded as one of the most fundamental problems in the current period of global changes in the field of inter-correlation of foreign literatures and languages. The article presents an experimental study of the aesthetic interference in the poems “The Prayer” (1839), “I want to live, I crave for sadness” (1832) by M. Lermontov and "When Your So Young and Fairy Years..." (1829) by A. Pushkin. These works have become a part of modern Tatar readers’ perception. Based on the key concepts of the theory of aesthetic reception (aesthetic distance, the boundaries of readers’ expectations of a literary work, aesthetic experience), the new implications are revealed. These senses are actualized by modern readers, who study national literatures, the traditions of national poetry, its forms and images. The article regards the special pattern of Tatar readers’ perception of Russian classical literature, particularly of lyrical poetry by Pushkin and Lermontov. The methodological aspect of this problem is seen as “another” interpretation of Russian literature as a positive side of interference, which reveals global concepts of fiction and the features of national and cultural identity of modern readers. © 2016 Published by Future Academy www.FutureAcademy.org.uk