Cycle of novellas “Bruderschaft with Death” by B. Akunin in the aspect of literary cinematic

We consider the implementation of the literary cinematic principles in Boris Akunin’s cycle “Bruderschaft with Death”, which we analyze using intertextual, contextual methods, as well as the method of holistic analysis of a literary work. We substantiate that “novel-cinema” as a new form, which is the result of intermedial interaction (one of the key processes of the modern cultural space) contributes to the assertion in the texts of novellas to develop “visible”, dynamic action emphasized in the visual space, constructed through the characters system and utilitarian editing. We establish that in B. Akunin’s text there is a corpus of visual material (posters, illustrations, photographs) that asserts a specific visual image of the events described. However, the existence of such a visual corpus contributes to the generation of additional semantics, which changes the emphasis in the “visual – verbal” relationship. As a result, we conclude that in the novellas of cycle not only the main provisions of “literary cinematic” are realized, but the text itself appears as secondary in relation to the primary visual matter, to the conditional pre-, post- or postrevolutionary “film”, the existence of which is indicated by the presented corpus of illustrations and photographs. Research materials and general conclusions can be used to analyze not only other works of B. Akunin, but also modern domestic and world literature in the context of intertextual and intermediate interaction.