FROM THE EAST TO THE WEST: THE WANDERING OLD PLOT IN THE LIGHT OF NEW GLOBAL GENERALIZATION

Abstract

The paper is devoted to the story of “Wandering Jew” with Isahakyan’s literary elaboration. The first version written in 1907 is entitled as “Ahasverus”, the second version is “Wandering Jew” (1911) and the third one written in 1927 is entitled as “Shidhar”. It has been shown that each of the three versions including the title are prone to creative and thematic changes and are related to Isahakyan’s endeavor towards realization of global and national generalizations, influenced by Germanic literature of the ancient period and the folklore. The character of Wandering Jew has been shown in the folklore, Renaissance, in the new period of European literature and in Isahakyan’s works where there is a combination of various features typical of the character.