The character system and the ideological conflict in the Novel “Boys and Girls” by Ivan Boldyrev-Shkott

INTRODUCTION. The novel “Boys and Girls” by the emigrant writer Ivan Boldyrev-Shkott is considered. The purpose of the study is to identify the specifics of the imaginative system of the story, to clarify the nature of the ideological conflict through the comparison of male characters. The relevance of the research is due to the need to create an unappreciated and integral picture of the literature of the Russian diaspora, an integral part of which is the work of young immigrants, including I. Boldyrev-Shkott. MATERIALS AND METHODS. The research material is the novel by I. Boldyrev-Shkott “Boys and Girls”, and the work also uses critical papers and reviews from the writer’s contemporaries. The methodological basis of the research is the historical and genetic method, as well as the method of holistic analysis of the work. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION. For the first time, the system of characters in the story of I. Boldyrev-Shkott is analyzed in inseparable connection with the ideological conflict. It shows the presence in the story of a logically constructed character system, including the main, secondary and episodic characters. Episodic characters are divided into three groups, different in their role in the narrative: plot-functional, background, and once-introduced characters associated with memory motifs. The comparison of the male characters allows us to interpret the ideological conflict of the story as a split within the younger generation, due to the difference in characters and life strategies. CONCLUSION. The results obtained expand the understanding of the problems of the “school story” by I. BoldyrevShkott and clarify the interpretation of the ideological conflict.