STYLISTIC USE OF AK. TOLSTOY COLLOQUIAL AND OLD-FASHIONED VOCABULARY IN WORKS ABOUT THE ERA OF IVAN THE TERRIBLE

In the trilogy “The Death of Ivan the Terrible”, “Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich”, “Tsar Boris” and “Prince Serebryany” novel set in Russia shortly before the Time of Trouble A.K. Tolstoy skillfully uses colloquialisms and vernacularisms typical of folk speech as an expressive stylistic tool to depict the epoch of Ivan the Terrible. In the mid 19th century, when these novels were written, there was no clear-cut definition of colloquial and slang language. Employing colloquialisms and slangisms A.K. Tolstoy develops traditions of historical fiction shaped by A.S. Pushkin, M.Y. Lermontov and N.V. Gogol. Within the frame of historical genre, along with obsolete words A.K. Tolstoy borrows characteristic colloquialisms and slangisms from the vernacular, folklore, nonfiction sources. The language of A.K. Tolstoy’s historical novels does not sound conspicuously archaic or unreasonably modern. Heavy use of colloquialisms and vernacularisms, including vulgarisms and dialectisms by the common people in the historical novel «Prince Serebryany» and a few scenes of the drama trilogy is justified by the genre, the context and at the same time is absolutely consistent with the norms of the literary language of the 19th century genre. Colloquialisms and vernacularisms are also used to characterize speech patterns of the upper social groups - romantic characters like prince Nikita Romanovich Serebryany, prince Ivan Petrovich Shujsky or boyar Zakharjin-Yuriev. Overall, A.K. Tolstoy’s idiosyncratic approach to portraying realistic characters in historical prose made a significant contribution to establishing the principles of realism in the Russian literature.