Sergey Maksimov – Creative Contemplator of Russian National Life

In the article, against the backdrop of a general overview of the creative heritage of the writer-ethnographer Sergey Maksimov (1831‒1901), the specific features of the writer’s documentary prose related to its genre features, the creative position and method of work of the ethnographer, the author’s style of narration, and its stylistics are considered. Proverbs, sayings, puns, and phraseological units form the cultural and speech background in Maksimov’s prose, which is so necessary in ethnographic sketches of folk life. Rare examples of folkish eloquence collected and presented on the pages of the ethnographer’s books are analysed, reflecting the close connections of the everyday life and work activities of the Russian people with their rituals and poetry, as well as examples of folkish speech etiquette, to which Sergey Maksimov devoted several essays addressed to children and the common reader. Vivid examples of folkish language creation are given. The connection between Sergey Maksimov’s creative aspirations and major changes and promising trends in the domestic education system of the 1870s is emphasised. It is noted that the writer’s prose did not so much depict people’s life as recreate the people’s worldview.