The article is devoted to the problem of the correlation of the mythopoietic principle and the realistic component in the framework of the story of the 1930s about the pioneer camp Artek. This problem is significant for modern Russian literature. The aim of the study is to identify significant images-symbols and motifs that implement the manifestation of mythological overtones in Arkady Gaidar’s vacation story “Military Secret”. The scientific novelty is due to the fact that for the first time we considered the multi-vector nature of Gaidar’s story, the originality of its spatio-temporal characteristics, the realistic and mythological components of its plot. As a result, it was established that, first, the historical context and the realistic component of the novel “Military Secret” are reproduced to a greater extent through a neo-mythological prism. Second, images-symbols characteristic of the Crimean nature and climate were revealed, which, at the same time, fully reveal themselves with the help of mythological overtones and additional meanings: stone, water, sun, moon, Red Army knight, etc. Third, the implementation of the mythological basis in its various versions (resort, paradise, military, antique, etc.), as well as a realistic plan in details, personal and collective memory, character actions and environment, has been traced. Fourth, symbolic, mythological, historical, sociocultural codes become the means of creating key images and mise-en-scenes.
Ol'ga Svyatoslavovna Oktyabr'skaya (Wed,) studied this question.