Metanovel of A. Bitov “The Teacher of Symmetry”: from Chaos to the Metanarrative

The article is devoted to the analysis of the novel “he Teacher of Symmetry” written by A. Bitov: its plot, composition, character, idea-thematic levels. The first publication of short stories of the novel dates 1987. In the 70s of XX century scientists constructed a “unified field theory” and its theory of symmetry. The article considers the influence of this theory of symmetry on the structure and problematics of the A. Bitov’ novel, a systematic approach is used, that gives the opportunity to analyse this novel as a single unified text, not only the identification of allusions and postmodern strategies of playing with the word. The creative process, the act of creation, and reflective creative consciousness become the main subjects of research in the metanovel of A. Bitov. As a result of the analysis the conclusions are drawn about the genre variety of this novel as “a novel about the artist”, “a novel of creation” and about the attribution of this text to the metanarrative.

metanovel, symmetry, modernism, postmodernism, introspection, metanarrative, a text about the world’s structure and order