The article La Rilettura del romanzo Il fu Mattia Pascal di Luigi Pirandello nell’otica del racconto cinematografico di Mario Monicelli, presents an individual story of Mattia Pascal and his reincarnations in Adriano Meis and the late Mattia Pascal. It concentrates on the journey of the main character, in the original dimension of time and space, in search of a new, happy life and of his identity. In reference to the subject matter included here, various different theories are applied to the cinematic analysis of the ‘new’ work of Pirandello.

The article focuses on the term “train situation” created by Vyacheslav Kuricin, which is considered a metaphor of the work of the contemporary Russian writer Elena Dolgopyat. The proper analysis of Dolgopyat’s works is preceded by an introduction in which the definition of magical realism and its history in Russia is briefl y presented. The attitude of the Russian literary scholars to this phenomenon is presented as well. Next, the meanings of the figure of train in the writer’s stories are discussed. It is noteworthy that the features of magical realism (specific space-time construction, polyphonic narrative, fantastic elements perceived as something natural) are realized in her texts often through the image of a train. In works in which this picture does not exist, we deal with the „train situation”, which boils down to the combination in the presented world of various aspects of reality, unlimited by matter. The heroes live between different dimensions of reality, and combining into one cohesive whole of various space-times, ways of existence, realistic and fantastic elements allows to see the term of Kuricin also as a metaphor of all magical realism.

Pilgrimages to the Holy Land have been an old tradition in the Russian culture. For believers, places related to the life and passion of Christ have been an important element of history and geography of salvation since the beginnings of Christianity in Ruthenia. The paper is an attempt to present the fi rst pilgrimage of Andrey Muraviev (1806–1874), a religious writer, theologian, poet, playwright, church and state activist, to Palestine as a personal religious experience and its refl ection in a literary work of art. The pilgrimage to the East became a breakthrough moment in Muraviev’s life and resulted in the writing of "A journey to Holy places in 1830" (Путешествие ко Святым местам в 1830 году), which initiated the religious stage of his writings and became a great success. Although the poet did not call his journey a pilgrimage, such was indeed its nature. Visiting places important to the history of salvation, he participated in services and sacramental life of the Church.