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Abstract: The article deals with the concept of Russian history as determined by texts. In the novel by V. Sharov «Trace in trace» texts and their ideas are one of the main driving force of the historical movement in Russia. The power of text over people's minds, subject and object of history, is found in various plots of creation, reading and rewriting of the text as preservation or interruption of cultural, historical continuity of different generations and ages. The novel presents three types of relationships to text. Firstly, the absolute power of the text is realized in the plot of rewriting as historical tradition following, as a rejection of the subjective role of the individual in society management. Secondly, the creation of their own (new) text as a violation of the existing canon, desire to change reality by the text. Thirdly, the interpretation of the previous texts and creation on this basis become the individual and family explanation of life, the ability to save and transfer the knowledge. V. Sharov’s novel «Trace in trace» presents, on the one hand, the historical development of Russia as a series of rejections of the previous ideas, which were canonized in texts and distorted in reality, on the other hand, asserts the possibility of personal continuity and saving the experience of past generations in the text.