ROSTOV CULTURAL CODE IN THE GENRE COORDINATES OF A DETECTIVE NOVEL
Abstract
https://doi.org/10.18522/1995-0640-2026-3-10-21
Thе article examines the cultural code reconstructed in the retro detective genre. It is proved that the Rostov cultural code enters into complex, multi-layered relationships with the Rostov urban text. As a semiotic entity, the Rostov cultural code relies on the signs of the urban text. Using Liza Loseva's detective novel “Yegor Lisitsa's Black Suitcase,” it is demonstrated that the retro detective novel complicates regional images by creating a metahistorical perspective in the reconstruction of the past, which becomes the foundation for the mythologization of a bygone era and, simultaneously, the focusing on everyday details of the detective plot. In a retro detective story, the aesthetic purpose of spatial and temporal coordinates is not to solve the logical puzzles of the investigation, but to recreate a holistic cultural space using the signs of urban text: architecture and urban landscape, urban stories and myths that mark the spiritual and cultural sphere, the climate and value system of the city's residents, their gastronomic preferences and olfactory associations. These signs of urban text become cultural artifacts, defining Rostov's cultural code.
Key words: cultural code, Rostov text, detective story, genre, artistic space, locus, urban semiotics
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Copyright (c) 2026 Anna V. Kuznetsova
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