THE ROLE OF THE «EMPEROR» AND «CAPITAL CITY» AS A SOCIAL STRUCTURE IN THE SYMBOLIC RITUALS IN THE NOVEL BY SALMAN RUSHDIE «THE ENCHANTRESS OF FLORENCE»

Abstract

Aim. The article considers the role of the «emperor» and the «capital city» in the construction of the symbolic structure of Salman Rushdie’s novel «The Enchantress of Florence». Methods. The features of topos modeling in Rushdie’s novel are defined on the basis of Mikhail Bakhtin’s concept of chronotope. The article also uses the ideas of Pierre Bourdieu, Michel Foucault and Guy Debord concerning the city as a specific social structure which functioning depends on rituals. Results. The city in «The Enchantress of Florence» is analyzed as a social structure and symbolic system, provoking hierarchical relations constructed within the specific topos of the «capital city». The hierarchy of the capital city as the «capital» of the empire is clearly reflected in the image of emperor’s palace: the emperor is the keeper of the capital and the distributor of the «good». However, the appearance of mirror images with adjacent functions leads to the loss of distinctions and the dominance of identification, that is, the destruction of the integrity of the social system. Scientific novelty. Rushdie’s work is mostly studied from the perspective of multiculturalism, examining the problems of interaction between native and alien cultures, of the combination of fact and fiction. Therefore, in this survey, it was important to develop a different vector of research, allowing to reveal the hidden meanings of the author’s artistic world. Practical meaning. The material of the article can be used for the further study of Salman Rushdie’s works and the contemporary British literature.