Abstract: The subject of this research is the category of space – one of the intrinsic text categories that implies the meaning of location and spatial relations, and fulfills a plot-composing and semantic function. Essay is a peculiar genre, at the intersection documentary and fiction styles, which is an important factor affecting the analysis of the category of space. Examination of the category of space in essays is one of the relevant trends in linguistics. Essays of the prominent Soviet writer, photographer and journalist V. M. Peskov, which were recognized as the exemplary, serve as the material for this research. The categorical-textual approach towards studying V. M. Peskov's essays allowed determining the nuances of explication of the category of space in the genre of essay. Analysis of the specificity of the category of space in the genre of essay indicates the existence of objective and subjective space; namely the objective space holds the key place and plays a crucial role in text of the essay. In explication of the category of space are applied the direct spatial signifiers (spatial prepositions and toponyms), and indirect spatial signifiers. Texts of the essay simultaneously contain static and dynamic spaces: the author creates a static picture using existential verbs and statistical verbs of spatial location; the author describes local dynamics using the verbs of movement. The category of space is closely connected with the category of time and the category of theme; together they create a precise semantic division in accordance with the author's idea, as well help to give detailed description to the event and portray the character of the hero.

Abstract: The subject of this research is the category of theme – one of the leading text categories that reflects the subject matter of speech and extra-textual reality. Analysis of the category of theme in the essay genre is a relevant trend in modern linguistics. The essays by V. M. Peskov, whose works are considered exemplary and representative for the scientific research in the field of humanities, serve as the materials for this article. Among the essays of the Soviet period, the essays of V. M. Peskov rightfully hold a special place and retain its relevance. The research methodology contains categorical-textual analysis based on the category of communicativeness. The novelty consists in application of the categorical-textual method towards analyzing the genre of essay, which implies a combination of uniform by means of explication textual categories, and with a high degree of objectivity, allows to determine the characterological features of the genre and functional style. The means of explication of the category of theme in the genre of essay have the following peculiarities: incorporation of several functions in a single nomination (primary, basic, principal); application of diverse additional nominations (referentially identical nominations, synonyms, taxonomic nominations, substitutions, grammatical transformations, zero nominations). The analysis of a wide range of additional nominations demonstrates that the essays by V. M. Peskov with a high degree of confidence can be attributed to the field of publicistic, fiction and colloquial styles; or in other words, the genre is at the intersection of several functional styles.