The anthroposhere in the novel by I.A. Goncharov «The Precipice». Raisky and the others

The object of the paper is the first, Saint Petersburg, part of the novel «The Precipice» by I.A. Goncharov. The basic opposition in the fictional reality of the novel is vitality vs nonvitality. Raisky and the other characters gain or don’t gain the knowledge of good and evil, beauty, sufferings (Ayanov, the Pakhotins). The values they advance – «vital business», «beauty» (Raisky); «practicality and service» (Ayanov); observance of microsocial conventions (Sofya Belovodova); self-sacrifice (Natasha), etc. – form a complicated «life novel».