Abstract
<jats:p>The aim of this research is to establish similar features and common techniques in the creation of Christmas prose works, based on the material of N. V. Gogol's novella "The Night Before Christmas" from the cycle "Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka" and an excerpt from I. S. Shmelev's novel "The Summer of the Lord" ("Christmas"). The article emphasizes the culture of Christmas traditions in texts from different eras – Malorussia in the first third of the 19th century and pre-revolutionary Moscow in the early 20th century. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the fact that a comparative analysis of these works has been conducted for the first time within the framework of the Christmas text, during which the following common features were identified: the presence of an introduction as a mandatory component of the text; a parallel (balanced) realization of the ideas of pantheism and Christianity within the same text; a combination of descriptive fragments related to Christmas traditions and folk customs and rituals. Using the examples of N. V. Gogol's and I. S. Shmelev's works, the key techniques for creating a Christmas text are examined, allowing writers to convey the flavor and peculiarities of the described era. The research establishes that the Christmas texts of the two writers are built not only around the theme of Christmas but also organically based on cultural, folk, and religious customs. It is important to note that some aspects of Christmas prose differ in variability, which is due to the subjective, individualized perception of Christmas in different eras and in different social environments.</jats:p>