Russian Literature of the Baltics: Discreteness of Mentality

The present study considers the specific features of contemporary Russian literature in the Baltic states. The research material of the study reflected in the article consists of two texts: the novel "The Argonaut" by Andrei Ivanov (Estonia) and the book by Alexey Evdokimov "Riga. The Near West, or Truth and Myths about Russian Europe" ((sic) EBpo Pi e = Riga. Blizhnyy Zapad, ili Pravda i mify o russkoy Yevrope). Both works are texts in which the Baltic space (Estonia/Latvia) and the specificity of Russian mentality of the Baltic space are modelled. The texts are genre and narrative structures; however, one can consider different principles of modelling Russian mentality that becomes discrete. Discreteness is manifested in the borderline location of the Russian, and as a result-an attempt to include the Russian in various cultural paradigms. The main character of A. Ivanov's novel is a lone hero. The narrator of A. Evdokimov's book is a public person. Nevertheless, it is possible to consider the general manifestation of discreteness, based on the dual perception of the status of the Russian as "one's own/someone else's."