Linguoculturological and lexical analysis by article of A.N. Tolstoy "Motherland"

Chichina Marina Olegovna PhD in Philology Associate Professor of the Department of Russian Language, Moscow State Institute of International Relations (University) 76 Vernadsky Avenue, Moscow, 119454, Russia, Moscow region m.chichina.@my.mgimo.ru

Grigorieva Natalia Antonovna Senior Lecturer of the Department of Russian Language, Moscow State Institute of International Relations (University) 119454, Russia, Moskovskaya oblast', g. Moscow, prospekt Vernadskogo, 76 n.grigorieva@my.mgimo.ru

 At MGIMO, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, whose teachers are the authors of this article, the study of the work of Alexei Nikolaevich Tolstoy is included in the course of teaching foreign undergraduates Russian (aspect "linguoculturology"). The purpose of this research is a comprehensive linguoculturological and lexico-semantic analysis of the article by A.N. Tolstoy "Homeland".

The creativity of any writer is inextricably linked with his biography. Russian Russian News During the First World War, A.N. Tolstoy served as a war correspondent for the newspaper "Russian Vedomosti", he believed that Russia should wage war until its victorious completion by the Russian army. He was against the Brest Peace, as a result of which Soviet Russia withdrew from the war, while victory in the First World War was very close. After the October Revolution, which at first the nobleman Alexei Tolstoy did not accept, he emigrated, but in 1923 he returned to the Soviet Union because he could not live in a foreign land.

In the late twenties and early thirties, many had a premonition of a new big war. "During the Spanish War, Tolstoy was in Spain, and this trip convinced him of the inevitability of a clash between the Soviet people and the fascists. He realized that the rulers of some Western countries sympathize with the growing strength of fascist Germany and hope to use it to deal with the Soviet Union, so all attempts by the Soviet government to conclude an anti-fascist alliance with the West, undertaken after the defeat of Spain, were unsuccessful" ^{[2, p. 11]}.

During the Great Patriotic War, Alexey Tolstoy wrote more than a hundred articles, but the date of publication of the article "Motherland" is special, because on this day, November 7, 1941, the famous parade of the Soviet Army took place on Red Square, which became a testament to the strength of spirit and courage of Soviet soldiers. In the autumn of 1941, the Fascist troops were only a few dozen kilometers from the capital of our motherland, the officers and soldiers of the Red Army who took part in this parade immediately went to the front to protect their homeland from the fascists. On the pages of the newspapers "Pravda" and "Krasnaya Zvezda" that day there were reports about this military parade, reports from the fronts and an article by A. N. Tolstoy "Motherland".

The relevance of this scientific research is due to several factors:

1) previously, a detailed, one-time

linguoculturological and lexico-semantic analysis of the text of the article by A.N. Tolstoy "Homeland";

2) a comprehensive study of the text of the article was carried out

"Motherland": its semantic parts are revealed, the speech style of each of them is determined, the semantics of vocabulary is analyzed, which is significant for understanding both individual parts and the entire article by A.N. Tolstoy;

3) there are only a few scientific works devoted to the idiosyncrasies of A.N. Tolstoy, so it was necessary to identify the peculiarities of the individual style of the article "Motherland" (1941).,

3) the authors proposed a scientific definition of "lexico-semantic milestones",

4) in the days when the united West is once again attempting to wage a hybrid and proxy war against the Russian Federation, the article by A.N. Tolstoy acquires a new sound, inspiring Russians to stand up in this struggle,

Russian Russian as a foreign language, the article has practical significance, as the results of the research can be used by teachers of literature, linguoculturology, Russian language, Russian as a foreign language in their lessons and seminars devoted to the study of the creative heritage of A.N. Tolstoy.

Scientific novelty. 1) For the first time in linguoculturology and literary studies, a comprehensive phrasal analysis of A.N. Tolstoy's article "Homeland" (linguoculturological and lexico-semantic) is proposed. 2) For the first time in linguoculturology, we propose a scientific definition of "lexico-semantic milestones" – words that are significant for understanding the meaning of the article, binding and uniting the entire text, the semantics of which helps the reader, as milestones, to come to an understanding of the essence of the author's ideological plan. In our opinion, the method of identifying the "lexical and semantic milestones" of the text can be applied at seminars on the study of the language of the media in the analysis of newspaper and journalistic articles, essays, speeches of politicians and diplomats. Russian Russian as a foreign language in universities, in Russian literature lessons in schools and universities, when it is necessary to analyze small, in volume, literary texts – stories, novellas. This method of working with the text can be used in the lessons of the Russian language and Russian as a foreign language in universities, in the lessons of Russian literature in schools and universities, when it is necessary to analyze small, in volume, literary texts - stories, novellas.

Before explaining why we propose to introduce a scientific definition of "lexico-semantic milestones", it is necessary to say what the concept of "Homeland" is, according to linguoculturologists. Russian Russian Homeland is a significant concept for understanding and comprehending the Russian picture of the world, reflected in the Russian language. "The national-cultural specificity of the concept of "homeland" is determined by the determinant – the native land constant, which is basic for Russian culture, which goes back to the oldest mythological archetypes ^[15,170-181].

Recall that, according to the definition of Yu.S. Stepanov, "a concept is a kind of cumulative phenomenon, in its structure consisting of the concept itself and the value (often figurative) representation of a person about it" ^{[15, 40-43]}. In different historical epochs, Russian people treated their land with love, which, if necessary, they protected from enemies.

V.I. Karasik wrote about the three–part structure of the concept - conceptual, figurative and value ^{[8, 3-16]}. C. G. Vorkachev also distinguished three components of the concept: there is a "conceptual, reflecting its characteristic and definitional structure, figurative, fixing cognitive metaphors that support the concept in the linguistic consciousness, and meaningful, determined by the place that occupies the name of the concept in the lexico-grammatical system of a particular language, which will also include etymological and associative characteristics" ^{[3, 115-224]}. We share the opinion of such scientists as A. Vezhbitskaya, N.D. Arutyunova, V.I. Karasik, Yu.S. Stepanov, S.G. Vorkachev, who pay attention to the ethnosemantic specifics of concepts. The significant component plays an important role in determining the degree of ethnosemantic specificity of the concept. For Russians, the Motherland is not just the country in which you were born, but an important spiritual and moral concept that influences the formation of the worldview of the people, therefore the concept of "Homeland" is one of the most important.

Another well-known scientific term of linguoculturology is the definition of "keywords". Vezhbitskaya introduced this concept into the scientific lexicon: "key words" are especially important and indicative for a particular culture,"for example, in Russian culture fate, soul, will" ^{[13, 81]}.

We propose to use the scientific definition of "lexical and semantic milestones" when conducting a comprehensive linguocultural and lexical analysis of newspaper and journalistic articles, essays or speeches of politicians and diplomats. "Milestone" means not only words, but also phrases, sentences that are important for understanding the meaning of the entire article, essay or speech of a politician or diplomat. For example, the "lexico-semantic milestones" in the article by A.N. Tolstoy include the exclamation sentences "Let's do it!", "Nothing, we'll do it!", "Do it!", a narrative sentence with the phraseology "they broke their necks near Moscow", the phrases "the land of ottich and dedich", "good wins evil." It is no coincidence that we chose this name for the scientific definition. The "lexico-semantic milestones" have a special semantic load and important practical significance: they, like road milestones, help the reader to move forward, to comprehend the essence of a specific idea of the author of an article, essay or speech of a politician, diplomat.

3) In the course of the study, we have identified three parts of the article by A.N.

Tolstoy's "Homeland", each of which has its own stylistic and lexical features.

In the first part, referring to the cultural and historical past of our country and recalling the stages of the formation of the Russian state, A.N. Tolstoy describes how Russia was built, tells about the life of our ancestors, the strength and power of their character. The Old Russian vocabulary used by the writer in this fragment of the article is perceived organically, bringing a special national flavor.

In the second part of the article, A.N. Tolstoy changes the tone: he talks about the struggle of the Soviet people with fascist Germany, introducing newspaper and journalistic vocabulary into the text in order to strengthen the emotional impact on the reader. In this part there is also a scientific vocabulary, with which the author describes the achievements of Russian scientists of the nineteenth century.

In the third part, the writer writes about the future Victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War and resorts to the genre of the Russian folk tale, the vocabulary characteristic of fiction and oral folk art appears.

Thus, in the article "Motherland", which, in our opinion, is a masterpiece not only of domestic journalism, but also of Russian literature, A.N. Tolstoy showed mastery of the word both as a publicist and as a writer.

4) Analyzing the article "Homeland", we drew attention to the role that the concept of "time" plays in the compositional design of the article. A.N. Tolstoy expands the time frame of the article "Homeland". The date of publication in Soviet newspapers is November 7, 1941, when the enemy almost came close to Moscow, and Soviet soldiers heroically defended the capital. However, the writer was confident in the victory of the Soviet people over fascism in World War II, he writes about this in the third part of the article. With his foresight, A.N. Tolstoy extended the temporary effect of the article "Motherland" to May 9, 1945 – Victory Day. Unfortunately, the writer himself did not live to see this day, he died in February 1945.

Let's move on to the linguistic and linguoculturological analysis of the text.

As noted above, in the first part of the article, A.N. Tolstoy refers to ancient Russian history. We have identified the following lexical and semantic milestones: the phrase "ottichi and dedichi" – fathers and grandfathers, exclamation sentences "We'll do it!", "Nothing, we'll do it!", that is, "We'll overcome!", "We'll win!". It is no coincidence that a writer-publicist uses this verb in the form of the 1st person, in the plural. For a long time, our ancestors all defended their Homeland together when the enemy attempted to attack it. In the semantics of the verb "sdyuzhim", the writer conveys the strength of the spirit of the whole people: "Our land has absorbed a lot of hordes of rapists who attacked it. Empires arose and died in the West. From the great they became small, from the rich they became poor. Our homeland was expanding and growing stronger, and no enemy force could shake it. It will also devour these German hordes without a trace. So it was, so it will be. Nothing, we'll do it!..", because "there is no such a daredevil that would sit firmly on the shoulders of a Russian person." To describe the strength of the enemy, with whom our ancestors used to fight, A.N. Tolstoy uses words with an old Russian flavor – "hordes", "rapists", "famously". "German hordes", – the writer gives such a negative assessment to the opponents of Soviet soldiers.

Let's turn to the "Explanatory dictionary of the living Great Russian language of Vladmir Dal": "to blow away, south. and zap. to harass, to be healthy; to blow away zap. overpower, overcome" ^{[6, p. 168]}. There are several variants of spelling and pronunciation of the verb "to squeeze". So, in the Novgorod, Kursk, Oryol provinces, it has the meaning to master, to overcome; "to squeeze"; (in the Saratov, Tambov, Voronezh provinces) means to be able, to be able; "to squeeze, to squeeze" (in the southern provinces) are known in the same meaning. The verb comes from the Proto-Slavic du?, which means "strong, able to withstand" ^[14]. The verb "to squeeze", which is capacious in meaning, refers to non-equivalent vocabulary, since it is impossible to translate a word into other languages without losing the meaning of one of these. The exclamation sentence "Nothing, we will do it!..", that is, we will overcome, we will win, despite the difficulties, in our opinion, is an important lexical and semantic milestone of the first part of the article "Motherland".

Another "lexico-semantic milestone" of A.N. Tolstoy's article is the phrase "the land of ottich and dedich": "The land of ottich and dedich are those banks of deep rivers and forest clearings where our ancestor came to live forever" ^{[16, p. 446]}. As you know, in the Russian tradition, the family is conducted by the father, the word of the older men in the family has always been considered the law, fathers and grandfathers have always been listened to and respected. Interestingly, in Vladimir Dahl mentions that the words father and grandfather have another sema – defender of the Motherland, patriot: "Father, -I. son and ancestral heir of his father. Father and grandfather. Belopolye.// Fatherland, son of his fatherland, patriot" ^{[6, p. 724]}.

 "The motherland is the movement of the people on their land from the depths of centuries to the desired future, in which they believe and create with their own hands for themselves and their generations. This is an eternally dying and eternally born stream of people carrying their own language, their spiritual and material culture and unshakable faith in the legitimacy and indestructibility of their place on earth."

In this expanded metaphor, the writer draws attention to the role of the Russian language in the life of the people, its accumulative function. This fragment of the article "Homeland" becomes especially significant when you remember that A. Hitler and other ideologists of the "Third Reich" wanted to destroy not only Russian culture, but also the culture of Slavs, Gypsies, Jews: "Fascism is hostile to any national culture, including German. He seeks to destroy every national culture, to erase the very memory of it," A.N. Tolstoy writes in his article ^{[16, p. 445]}.

Let's pay attention to the word Homeland, which became the title of the writer's article and reflects its main idea. "In the usage, the lexeme homeland is a polysemant, has two lexical and semantic variants (LSV): 1. Country. In which a person was born and of which he is a citizen. 2. The place of origin, growth, origin of something" ^[15]. In the article by A.N. Tolstoy, we are talking about LSV-1.

The word homeland, in addition to the name, occurs in the article in I. P. – 6 times; in R. P. (homeland) – 4 times; in D. P. (homeland), in V. P. (homeland), in TV. P. (homeland), in P.P. (homeland) – 1 time. It can be argued that both in meaning and frequency of use, this word (with all its word forms) is the most important in the article. A synonym for the word Motherland - Fatherland. The meaning of the word Fatherland is the land of the fathers, given by God (Father is God, let's remember the prayer "Our Father", Father and Fatherland are the same root words). In the text of the article "Motherland" there is no word "Fatherland", but with the help of a metaphor, A.N. Tolstoy conveyed that the people live "faith in the legality and indestructibility of their place on earth", that is, a mention that the Motherland is given to everyone from above.

Another synonym for the word Motherland is the Fatherland (the land of the fathers). In the description of A. Tolstoy, the Fatherland "appears in unique national images of the world: "a smoke smelling of rye bread from a hut covered with snow", "the banks of deep rivers and forest clearings", "dense nature". In these strokes to the portrait of the native land – and nature, and climate, and lifestyle. They, in turn, according to G. Gachev's scientific research, determine the national character, appearance, cultural traditions and historical destinies of the people" ^[4].

An occasional synonym for the word "homeland" is the lexeme "nest" in the article by A.N. Tolstoy. The meaning of the "lexico-semantic milestone" "chicks of one nest", expressed using a metaphor, can be understood by carefully analyzing the sentence: "Our nest, the motherland has prevailed over all our feelings." Thus, A.N. Tolstoy briefly and figuratively described an important feature of the national mentality – the unity of the entire multinational people of Russia to defend the Fatherland in the days of confrontation with the enemy. Russian Russians It is known that in all wars (with the Ottoman Empire, Napoleon in 1812-1814, in the First World War, in the Second World War), opponents called Russians not only ethnic Russians, but representatives of other peoples (Belarusians, Tatars, Ossetians, Chechens, Ingush, Yakuts, Kazakhs, Belarusians, Armenians and others) included in the the composition of Russia, and then the USSR. Why? Russian Russian philosopher I.A. Ilyin said this well: "And if I consider Russia to be my homeland, it means that I love, contemplate and think in Russian, sing and speak in Russian; that I believe in the spiritual forces of the Russian people and accept their historical fate with my instinct and my will. His spirit is my spirit; his destiny is my destiny; his sufferings are my sorrow; his flourishing is my joy" ^[7].

Alexey Tolstoy touches on another important problem: "In peaceful years, a person, in contentment and happiness, like a bird bathing in the sky, can fly far away from the nest and even seem to him as if the whole world is his homeland. Another person, embittered by bitter need, will say: "What are you telling me: homeland! What did I see good from her, what did she give me?". A common trouble has come. The enemy is ravaging our land and wants to call all our eternal things his own. Then the happy and unhappy gather at their nest. Even the one who would like to hide like a cricket in a dark crack and whistle there until better times, and he understands that now it is impossible to escape alone" ^{[16, p.444]}.

In this fragment Tolstoy describes the attitude of different people to the motherland in peacetime and wartime, describing their psychology of different people and characterizing them with the help of metaphors and epithets: "embittered by bitter need", "happy", "unhappy", "the one who would like to hide like a cricket". Let's analyze: some are supporters of cosmopolitanism, the so–called happy ones, who in peacetime think that "the whole world is their homeland" (in the 30-40s of the twentieth century there were few such people, but in the 90s of the same century there were more cosmopolitans). Why? In search of an answer to this question, we turned to an article by another writer, Valentin Rasputin, published in 1992. Reflecting, like his predecessor in the literary field, A.N. Tolstoy, on the present and future of Russia, V.G. Rasputin worried that Western ideologists decided to "put into effect a powerful propaganda mechanism of denationalization with the help of powerful temptations, firstly, rich Western showcases and, secondly, freedom from conscience morals and from any responsibility – in a word, spiritually and morally to remove the Russian from his domestic nest, to process accordingly, to de-energize from any patriotic energy and direct against it, Russia" ^{[16, p. 2]}. Interestingly, V.G. Rasputin uses the same metaphor as A.N. Tolstoy (Homeland – "nest"), supplementing it with the epithet – "domestic nest".

Can people who emigrated without feeling a blood connection with Russia, left their homeland at a difficult moment for the country, be called happy? Answering this question, we want to argue with A.N. Tolstoy and object to him. No, because it is difficult for a person to live happily without a homeland. The fates of many emigrants who left Russia after the revolution developed in different ways. Some – such as the writer I.A. Bunin, the philosophers P.I. Florensky, I.A. Ilyin were not cosmopolitans, they left Russia forcibly, but the theme of their works and philosophical reflections was still the Motherland. They continued to remain Russians, without Russia it was not easy for them.

The second group of emigrants are those who left the USSR in the twentieth century, by their own decision, striving for comfort and an easy life. Can these people be called happy? There are probably as many definitions of the concept of "happiness" as there are people, but, in our opinion, it would be more accurate to call them not happy, but careless, who did not understand what homeland means in a person's life.

The third type of character described by A.N. Tolstoy is the people of labor, on whom the country has always held. In the pre-war years, industrialization was underway in the USSR, workers worked hard, because the country continued to recover after the First World War and the devastating Civil War, the aggression of the Entente countries. Were there "embittered" people among the workers in the pre-war period, as A.N. Tolstoy writes, because they lived hard, not rich? They probably were. It is important to understand the semantics of this epithet. Let's compare: an angry person (a permanent feature, a character trait) is an embittered person (a temporary feature that is not a character trait), bitterness quickly passes.

Another epithet used by A.N. Tolstoy in this fragment is the unfortunate. Let us not agree with this definition of the writer. Those who had a difficult life in the pre-war years, and those who bore on their shoulders the restoration of the country after many years of wars and destruction, cannot be called unhappy. Firstly, because they did not consider themselves as such. Secondly, because their life was heroic: at first, sparing no effort, they worked for the good of the Motherland, for the sake of the future of children and grandchildren, and then defended the Fatherland from fascism, becoming winners in World War II.

The following sentences from the article by A.N. Tolstoy "a common calamity has come, the enemy is ruining our land and wants to call everything eternal his own", "... now it is impossible to escape alone", "we, living in this hard times, are the keepers and watchmen of our homeland"turned" to the specific side of national consciousness – conciliarity, ability to unite in the face of great danger, to speak out with the whole world in defense of common interests and to save the Fatherland" ^{[10, 691]}. A.N. Tolstoy sees conciliarity and the ability to unite in wartime as a feature of the mentality of not only our ancestors living in the times of Ancient Russia, but also of the multinational Soviet people.

Why did fascist Germany attack the Soviet Union without declaring war? Alexey Tolstoy answers this question. Firstly, because the Soviet Union is all the same historical Russia, which for centuries has been a "tasty morsel" for various rulers of Western Europe: the territory of a huge country, its natural resources attracted. Secondly, they intend "... to call our homeland Germany, to expel us forever from our land "ottich and dedich", as our ancestors used to say" ^{[16, p. 446]}.

Immediately after these words, the writer introduces the image of the ancestor into the text. The Dictionary of the Russian Language by S.I. Ozhegov explains the meaning of this word as follows: "ancestor, -a, M. (book) Distant ancestor, ancestor" ^{[9, p. 449]}.

The etymology of the word ancestor goes back to the Proto-Slavic * praskjur b, in the Old Russian language it was written ancestor. In the text of the article "Homeland" this token occurs 4 times, in combinations:

1) "The land of ottich and dedich are those banks of deep rivers and forest clearings where our ancestor came to live forever";

2) "The ancestor could see a lot, looking at the sun from under the palm of his hand...";

3) "It's not for nothing that the ancestor wove a magic network of the Russian language...";

4) "Our ancestor, looking at the salt, probably discerned these deeds of his people in the distance of centuries and then said to this: "Nothing, we will do it...".

With the help of short adjectives, Alexey Tolstoy conveys the power of the character of our ancient ancestor: "He was strong and bearded, in a long shirt, salty on the shoulder blades, smart and unhurried, like all the dense nature around him" ^{[16, p. 446]}. Turning to the experience of the past gives strength to descendants, especially when they remember that their forefathers had to master a land that was not favorable for life, but a region with a diverse, sometimes harsh climate, and for this they needed gigantic forces of strong-minded people.

A.N. Tolstoy writes that after the weakening of Kiev in the struggle against the Mongol-Tatars, it was Vladimir-Suzdal Rus that played a huge role in the further formation and formation of a centralized Orthodox Russian state, into which representatives of other peoples and cultures gradually joined: "...Vladimir-Suzdal Rus had to fight for almost four centuries and with The Golden Horde, and with Tver, and with Ryazan, with Novgorod, collecting and strengthening the land. Moscow took the lead in this struggle" ^{[16, p. 447]}.

The author of the article "Homeland" writes surprisingly poetically about the Russian language. The writer's idiosyncrasy, in our opinion, is characterized by a combination of simplicity of the form of expression of thought and depth of content. This writer, by his own admission, studied with A.S. Pushkin. A. N. Tolstoy wrote: "Every thought in artistic embodiment has only one single formulation, such that combinations of words form a kind of crystal" ^[17]. The writer called A.S. Pushkin a "star", a guiding star of Russian literature: "the brilliant age of Russian literature and art has come, opened by the star of Pushkin," he writes in the article "Motherland".

A.N. Tolstoy describes the word-making of our people, using figurative epithets and comparisons: "With a wonderful ligature he wove an invisible network of the Russian language: bright as a rainbow following a spring shower, accurate as an arrow, sincere as a song over the cradle, melodious and rich." The Russian language is complex, so the epithet wondrous vyaz appears justifiably, as a reminder of the equally complex Arabic language. The Russian language conveys all shades of feelings, and, behold, a comparison is born: it is "bright as a rainbow following a spring shower." Russian Russian literature classics have repeatedly mentioned the ability of the people to express themselves accurately and aptly, and if necessary to use the word as a weapon, hence the comparison: the Russian language is "as accurate as an arrow". If we compare our language with others, then we can notice its smoothness, melodiousness. A.N. Tolstoy writes: "sincere, like a song over the cradle, melodious and rich." Note that the use of comparisons as well as epithets is characteristic of the idiosyncrasy of the writer's journalistic articles. Russian proverbs are wise, riddles are cunning, epics are solemn, fairy tales are heroic, magical, everyday and mockingjay. With the help of these means of artistic expression, the writer emphasizes the wisdom, sometimes cunning, and ingenuity of the Russian people.

Lexical analysis of the article by A.N. Tolstoy "Homeland" allows us to come to the conclusion that the author skillfully combined three styles of speech: laconic newspaper-journalistic, figurative artistic and expressive colloquial – this, in our opinion, is another feature of the idiosyncrasy of the writer and publicist.

A similar opinion was expressed by A. Alexandrova: "The journalism of A.N. Tolstoy is unique in its artistry, information saturation, is a sample of the texts of the journalistic genre. The language of his articles is bright, expressive, it combines the talent of a writer-artist and an outstanding publicist, speaker, critic, teacher, patriot ..." ^{[1, p.228]}.

Being a great writer, the author of the trilogy "Walking through Torments", the historical novel "Peter the Great", A.N. Tolstoy in the journalistic article "Motherland" uses allusions to works of Russian classical literature. Russia is a literary–centric country, A.N. Tolstoy held this opinion, he wrote in his article about the educational function of Russian literature: "It is in vain to think that this literature was only the fruit of popular leisure. She was the dignity and intelligence of the people. It became and strengthened his moral image, was his historical memory, festive clothes of his soul and filled with deep content his whole measured life, flowing according to customs and rituals associated with his work, nature and reverence for fathers and grandfathers" ^{[16, p. 447]}.

It was noted above that A. Tolstoy considered the works of the genius A. S. Pushkin to be the pinnacle of Russian literary creativity. He was not only the "Sun of Russian Poetry" (as V. V. said). Odoevsky), but also "the solar center of Russian history" (as V. Nepomnyashchy claimed). Russian art of the nineteenth century was recognized as a standard, "it became world-class and in many ways led the art of Europe and America" (A. Tolstoy). Russian Russian ideologists wanted to convince the world of the backwardness of Russian culture and tried to eradicate Russian culture in the cruelest way possible. The fascists had such hatred for their eternal opponent A.S. Pushkin that, seeing his portrait somewhere, for example, on the wall in the classroom of a rural school, they shot at the portrait of the classic.

In the text of the article "Motherland" there is an allusion to the poem by A.S. Pushkin "Slanderers of Russia". Compare: "From these walls, the doomed Napoleon frowned at the burning Moscow" (in A. N. Tolstoy) ^{[1, p. 448]}.

"For what? Answer: for whether,

What's on the ruins of burning Moscow

We did not recognize the impudent will

The one you trembled under? (by A.S. Pushkin) ^{[11, p.222]}

There are allusions to the lyrical digression about the three-bird from N.V. Gogol's poem "Dead Souls": "The time has come when the European powers had to make room and give Russia a place in the red corner. The Russian people, who defeated Napoleon, forced them to do this" ^{[16, p.448]}.

The classic of Russian literature, ending with the lyrical digression "about the three-bird", the first volume of the poem, wrote: "A bell is filled with a wonderful ringing; the air, torn to pieces, rattles and becomes a wind; everything that is on the ground flies by, and, squinting, other peoples and states are injured and give way to it" ^{[5, p. 575]}.

Another feature of Tolstoy's idiosyncrasy, reflected in the article "Motherland", is the use of scientific vocabulary in journalism. Recalling the achievements of Russian science, A.N. Tolstoy, with the help of periphrasis, tells about the great discoveries of Ivan Polzunov (1766, "the steam engine was invented in Russia"), using scientific terms, writes about the research of Vasily Petrov (1803, "voltaic arc"), A.S. Popov (1886, "wireless telegraph"). These are just some facts that testify to the scientific potential of Russia before the revolution, not to mention the scientific achievements of the twentieth century. Tolstoy was always interested in science (recall the novels "Hyperboloid engineer Garin", "Aelita"). He structurally organizes the article so that the journalistic article also acquires an encyclopedic character.

The writer defined the twentieth century as follows: "Our century is a harsh, iron struggle for our independence, for our freedom and for the right to build our society and our happiness according to our laws" ^{[16, 445]}. There is no tautology in this sentence, the writer intentionally used the possessive pronoun "his" several times in different genders, cases and numbers: "his independence", "for his freedom" (zh.r., V.P., ed.ch.), "according to his laws" (M.R., D.P., mn.ch.), "his society", "his happiness" (cf. R., V.P., ed.ch.). With the help of lexical repetition, A.N. Tolstoy enhances the emotional impact on the reader. Recall that from June 1941 to the day of the opening of the second front in 1944, in the western direction of the battles of World War II, only one country – the Soviet Union – began to wage an uncompromising struggle for its Homeland, its ideals, its future against fascist ideology, against the intentions of the Third Reich, which subjugated many European countries, to establish in the world their inhumane laws, inhuman order, depriving most countries of independence, freedom and the right to speak their native language.

Alexey Tolstoy in the article "Motherland" (November 1941) writes that there is a "difficult struggle that decides our fate", "months of hard struggle". Since ancient times, the Russian people have called the difficult years for the Motherland "hard times"; Alexey Nikolaevich Tolstoy also said this about the war against fascism.

An experienced writer understood that his article would be read not only in the USSR, but also abroad, so he addressed not only compatriots, friends, but also enemies. He reminded that the pseudo–values of the ideology of fascism and "a special kind of faceless stock values thrown into total war" are opposed not only by the official Soviet socialist ideology, but also by the sacred ideology of "Moscow is the Third Rome", which was known not only by the priests of the Russian Orthodox Church, but also by ordinary people: "Moscow was conceived as the guardian and champion of the unblemished truth: there was Rome, there was Byzantium, now Moscow", "the heart of Russian nationality", the center of Russian culture ^{[16, p.448]}. In atheistic Soviet times, it was impossible to openly write about faith, so the author uses the phrase "unblemished truth" instead of the word Orthodoxy. By the way, the commander of the western front of the Soviet troops was Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov, whose patron saint was George the Victorious, and the main battles for Berlin were completed on May 6, 1945, on the day of the glorification of St. George, Orthodox Easter fell on this date that year. As the military say, there are no atheists in the war

A.N. Tolstoy was sure that history would repeat itself and that Soviet troops, like the Russians once during the war with Napoleon, would defeat their opponent. The writer was waiting for the moment when the Soviet Army, having defeated Hitler, would enter the German capital, Berlin. The battle of Moscow showed the whole world that fascism would be defeated. In the fragment of the article "Motherland", telling about this, the author uses phraseology, comparative constructions, epithets and metaphors, strengthening the emotional impact on the reader: "They broke their necks near Moscow, because Moscow is more than a strategic point, more than the capital of the state. Moscow is an idea that embraces our culture in all its national movement. Through Moscow is our way to the future." The writer turned out to be visionary, this victory was followed by other victories of the Great Patriotic War and the Second World War. In our opinion, "they broke their necks near Moscow" is another "lexico–semantic milestone" of the article "Homeland".

Next, A.N. Tolstoy turns to the history of Ancient Russia. With the help of epithets, he describes the army of Prince Igor – "the red shields of Prince Igor in the Polovtsian steppes", the army of Prince Dmitry Donskoy – "peasant spears set under the banners of Dmitry Donskoy on the Kulikovo field". So briefly and figuratively Tolstoy recalls the stages of the struggle of the Russian state for its independence. Prince Alexander Nevsky is a young and brave man who has not lost a single battle, has long been loved and revered in Russia. Russian Russian "Blood–soaked ice of Lake Peipsi" – with the help of this metaphor, A. Tolstoy reminds of the Victory of the Russian army, which delights Russians and frightens Russia's opponents, reminding them of the words of Grand Duke A. Nevsky - "Whoever comes to us with a sword will die by the sword."

In his article, A. Tolstoy mentions Tsar Ivan the Terrible. Its significance for the history of Russia, according to the writer, is that the tsar expanded the boundaries of the Russian land "from Siberia to the Varangian Sea," and huge riches flocked to Moscow during his time, thanks to trade, "from Europe, Persia, Central Asia, India." Alexey Nikolaevich wrote about the reasons for his creation of the dramatic story "Ivan the Terrible": "It was my response to the humiliation to which the Germans subjected my homeland. I summoned a great passionate soul, Ivan the Terrible, from oblivion to life in order to arm my "enraged conscience" ^[18]. Recall that until now, in European languages (English, French, Spanish, Italian), the nickname of Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich is translated as Terrible, and not as Formidable – threatening enemies in case of danger to Russia. The life and work of Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich is still viewed in Western historiography and literature with prejudice, without objectivity.

"The work of A. Tolstoy during the war years: articles, speeches, the dilogy "Ivan the Terrible" indicate that the writer deeply believed in the capabilities of the Russian people, in their inner strength, in the ability to gather courage, shake themselves up, rise to full heroic growth and once again declare to the world about their opportunities and, as the historian V. Klyuchevsky once wrote, to enter the broad road of world history" ^{[2, 28]}.

Another important lexical and semantic milestone of the article "Motherland" is the exclamation sentence: "Do it!". With this appeal, Alexey Nikolaevich Tolstoy ends his reflection on the responsibility of his contemporaries for the future of the Motherland: "And now a deadly enemy is blocking our homeland's path to the future. It's as if the shadows of past generations, those who died in countless battles for the honor and glory of the motherland, and those who put their hard work to build it, have surrounded Moscow and are waiting for the greatness of the soul from us and tell us: "Do it!"

In the third part of the article, reflecting on the future Victory, Alexey Nikolaevich Tolstoy turns to the Russian folk tale, because it was in this kind of oral folk that good always defeated evil, justice inevitably triumphed. It should be noted that many Russian folk tales, familiar to us from childhood, have reached us in the presentation of this writer.

Using a detailed metaphor, A. Tolstoy described the coming victory of the Soviet people over fascist Germany and its allies – the modernized "Miracle-Yud twelve-headed" of the twentieth century: "Like Ivan in a fairy tale, the Russian people grappled with the Miracle-Yud twelve-headed on the Kalinov Bridge" ^{[16, p. 450]}. The writer was sure that the Russian land itself, in an amazing and incomprehensible way for a rational mind, has always helped and is helping the sacred struggle of the people with the enemy: "They parted for three horse pricks and hit so that the earth swallowed up a lot of hordes of rapists who attacked it. Empires arose and died in the West. From the great they became small, from the rich they became poor. Our homeland was expanding and growing stronger, and no enemy force could shake it. It will also devour these German hordes without a trace. So it was, so it will be" ^{[16, 450]}.

The article by A.N. Tolstoy ends with an exclamation sentence: "Nothing, we'll do it!..". We believe that this is one of the most important "lexico-semantic milestones" of the article, which is repeated more than once by the writer.

The Soviet people have survived. On May 9, 1945, the Great Patriotic War ended, the Soviet Union defeated fascist Germany. On September 2, 1945, thanks to the help of the Soviet Army and allies, the army of militaristic Japan, an ally of Germany, was defeated on the Korean peninsula. Thus ended the Second World War.

In the twenty-first century in the world, unfortunately, there are supporters of the ideas of neo-fascism. Alexey Tolstoy's article is also relevant because it can also be considered as a warning to those who are hatching plans for full-scale aggression against Russia today.

Let us briefly outline the conclusions of our study:

1) the authors of this scientific study share the opinion of other scientists that "Motherland" is undoubtedly an important linguistic and cultural concept reflecting the special attitude of Russian people to their Fatherland,

2) the "lexico-semantic milestones" of A.N. Tolstoy's article "Homeland" are: exclamation sentences "Let's do it!", "Nothing, let's do it!", "Do it!"; narrative sentences "Nothing, let's do it...", a narrative sentence with the phraseology "They (fascists – note. authors of a scientific study) broke their necks near Moscow"; phrases "the land of ottich and dedich"; metaphor – "chicks of the same nest";

3) the article "Motherland" is a vivid embodiment of the idiosyncrasy of A.N. Tolstoy, who skillfully combined different styles of speech even in a journalistic article:

- an appeal to ancient Russian history (the use of Old Russian vocabulary),

- description of the struggle of the Soviet people against German fascism during World War II (updated newspaper and journalistic vocabulary, there is also the use of scientific vocabulary in this part),

- metaphorically depicts the Victory over fascism (an appeal to the genre of the Russian folk tale, where good overcomes evil);

3) the time frame of the article has been expanded, since in 1941 A.N. Tolstoy described the Victory of the Soviet Union in World War II on May 9, 1945.

Russian Russian Russian Russian literature, linguoculturology in universities; teaching Russian as a foreign language in universities; at lessons of Russian language and Russian literature in schools in order to study the work of the writer Alexei Nikolaevich Tolstoy.