Dickens’ Christmas Story as an Intertexteme in Leskov’s Yule Short Story

The aim of the article is the investigation of inter textual relations in the process of genre transformation of the Christmas story into the Yule short story from Charles Dickens to Nikolay Leskov. For this purpose the typical elements of both genres are examined, the conclusion that the Christmas story by Ch. Dickens is a special intertexteme in the Yule short story by N. Leskov. Thorough the comparative analysis of three key ideological, meaningful, and poetic points and spheres (realization of concepts, categories of values and socio-cultural environment) has been made. The categories of values are depicted through the vertical relationship “a man—God”, as well as the opposition of humanity and self-absorption, moral and legal laws. Socio-cultural environment is considered as the image of household items of different classes (the merchants, the peasants, the nobles, the clergy, and the officials in the works by N. Leskov and the bourgeois and the workers in the works by Ch. Dickens) and socio-cultural symbols through the traditions of Christmas celebrating.