The role of Pushkin Tradition in the Organization of the System of Characters in K. G. Paustovsky's Novel Smoke of Fatherland

The relevance of the article is related to the renewed interest in the work of K. G. Paustovsky in recent years, which is confirmed by the appearance of scientific and journalistic works about the writer's life and legacy. The purpose of the study is to consider the role of the Pushkin tradition in the organization of the system of characters in the novel Smoke of Fatherland. The work was carried out within the framework of the historical and literary approach. The results of the study show that the appeal to the Pushkin tradition in the novel dedicated to the Great Patriotic War speaks about the attitude towards the poet as a symbol of Russian culture, which was on the verge of destruction. The characters depicted in the novel are related to Pushkin in one way or another (a Pushkin scholar, an a1ctress resembling Tatiana Larina, and other creative personalities). Pushkin himself becomes a spiritual guide for them. In addition, it is concluded that in addition to the emergence of the image of Pushkin through the spiritual connection of the heroes with him, Paustovsky also turns to the motives of creativity that are relevant to the poet, such as friendship, love for the homeland, the power of art that conquers death.