We examine short stories «The Beggar Boy at Christ's Christmas Tree» by Fedor Dostoevsky and «About a Boy and Girl Who Were not Frozen» by Maxim Gorky. We analyze similarities and distinctions at the level of theme and problems raised, as well as at the level of poetics principles. The main focus of this article is on the plot structure, imagery and transformation of the fictional space. Based on the comparative-typological study we make certain conclu- sions regarding ways in which worldviews of each author are reflected in their short stories, and ways in which these worldviews are related. We prove that the transformation of the fictional space, distinctive features of the plot, imagery and style point to the differences in the authors' views, but also that the finales of the two short stories show that there are certain similarities in their worldviews. The latter can be attributed to the understanding of life as a dialectical inter- relation between its light and dark aspects.
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