L’albergo di provincia nei racconti di Čechov. Semiotica di uno spazio inesplorato

This paper stems from the observation that in the critical literature on Chekhov there is a lack of studies on the semiotics of the Russian provincial city hotel. It is a place of big importance in Chekhov’s works, as it is in this type of space that fundamental junctures of memorable Chekhov’s short stories, such as A Boring Story and The Lady with the Little Dog, take place. The intention of the Author is to take stock of the critical contributions that have developed this topic in Russian literature, with reference to a literary paradigm, which should be recognised in the famous episode of Tolstoy’s «Arzamas Horror», described in his short story Memories of a Madman. The model that will be derived from these references will be applied to those Chekhov’s scenes that take place in provincial hotels, in order to justify its symbolic importance in Chekhov’s work and to define constants that may also be useful in similar scenes by other authors.