The article is devoted to the Italian short stories by Dmitrij Mierieżkowski. In her considerations, the author starts from the problem of stylization, but having analysed given works, she comes to a conclusion that they cannot be treated as Renaissance Italian short story — stylised ones because they are just an imitation, paraphrase or a free translation of Italian short stories. Besides, the works by Mierieżkowski lack an internal rift between the model and the primary system of thought due to the absence of the latter. According to the author, the short stories by Mierieżkowski are worth paying attention to for many reasons. First, they mark a direction of the writer’s cultural interests. Second, they are a rare genre among his works, and third, they constitute a loose literary series which will become a dominating literary form at the turn of his whole literary output (mainly the novel-like trilogies).

N. Jewreinow’'s play To, co najważniejsze [That, which is most important] was subtitled as a comedy for someone, a drama for the other one. According to the author of the article, it meets
demands of these two genres. It is a comedy in a constructionist dimension and drama in an ideal dimension connected with Jewreinow’s theory. Thus, it is the theatre that can create a fable man needs.

The following article concerns the Russian contemporary historical prose (after 1956), above all, the genre of a historical novel. The author presents an overview of the opinions made by the researchers working on the Russian literature, on directions and changes observed in it. Opinions by J. Bałakin, S. Czuprynin, A. Nezmer, M. Epsztejn, A. Oskocki and many others koncern the authors of such writers as W. Aksionow, W. Pjecuch, W. Pieliwein, D. Bykow or N. Ejdelman. The main part of the article was devoted to the genre specificity of Czas głuchej jesieni [Time of dumb autumn], a novel by Jurij Dawydow. As it turns out from the analysis conducted, Dawydow’s work inscribes into the main trend of The Russian literature after 1956, situated between the documentnovel and the biography-novel. What we find in the work are also the features of the so called novel about history and retrospective prose. As it seems, Czas głuchej jesieni realises the indicators of different types of a historic novel, which proves its transitional status — it is located between a classic and contemporary version of this genre.

The article concerns a selected aspect of Anatolij Kim’s works, a Russian prose writer belonging to the so called Moscow school. The authors of the article characterize the style of his writing, exemplifying it on such statements and expressions that can be referred to as the genre of aphorism or maxim. The examples presented in the article derive from both the novel, stories and short stories of the Russian prose writer. Also, in order to illustrate the characteristics of the genres under investigation, aphorisms by Stanis³aw Jerzy Lec were used in the analysis conducted.

The article touches upon the genre changes in the Russian criminal novel of the 20th and 21st centuries. The text presents a short history of the genre starting from 1917. The first works worth mentioning are Mess-Mend by M. Szaginian and Notatki Sêdziego Œledczego [Notes by Investigating Magistrate] by L. Szejnin. An extremely intensive development of this genre can be observed from mid 1950s. What played an important role was the appearance of Okrucieństwo [Cruelty] and ŚŒladami wielkich detektywów [Following great detectives], novels by Paweł Nilin. A big group of “detective” writers was created at that time, among whom were A. Adamow, J. Siemionow, A. and G. Wajnerow, P. Szestakow, O. and A. £awrow. Popular genre variations were a police and detective novel. In the last decade of the 20th century th enew type of the criminal literature developed — the so called women’s criminal (Aleksandra Marinina, Daria Doncowa). Especially popular are also retro-criminals by Borys Akunin. His works are called the real genre revolution within the scope of this type of popular literature.

The article constitutes an attempt to define the genre features of the plays by Iwan Wyrypajew, a recently popular Russian playwright of the new generation. The writer almost always uses Biblical fragments, writes about the good and evil, basic value systems being under crisis nowadays. The heroes of his dramas are usually the people at variance with their lives, searching for their own place on the earth, lost and making crimes. The world of Wyrypajew’s plays seems to be at first sight iconoclastic and profaning what one usually speaks about in a serious and dignified way. However, the playwright hopes that the new way of an artistic creation (a non-normative language, drastic scenes from the surrounding reality, indecent humorous songs combined with the pathos of sermon rhetorics, a possibility of framing the play with a youth music and others inscribed in the text), will persuade the audience, especially the young one, that a clear conscience and living according to the basic values makes life easier and helps to find the real sense in it.

The article is an attempt to describe the phenomena characteristic of e-culture which more and more commonly becomes an alternative to traditional approach to culture. On the basis of the latest Russian literature the authors present the effects of the symbiosis of printed literature, multimedia and the Internet subculture. Sample genological changes, which occurred within the chosen literary genres influenced by the internet-related forms of communication, are discussed. The conducted analyses show that the most significant changes take place in drama genres where the elements of structure and internet-related means of communication (i.e. chat, forum, computer games) are used. The influence of multimedia on literature can be observed in the newly appeared genres such as: tanquette, reality drama, drama-chat etc.), especially when authors refer to the specific likings of internet clubbing society. Furthermore, it results in the change of the writer-reader relationship which becomes more interactive in character whereas the genre itself is transformed into a specific form of experiencing the world and becomes an aesthetic category.