The article is a presentation of the subject of a lawyer in the Russian literature of two eras – the second half of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twenty-first century. The object of comparative analysis are two literary texts: the first is the story by Leo Tolstoy – “Father Sergius” (1911), the second is a novel by the modern Russian writer – Evgeny Vodolazkin, which entitled “Laurus” (2012). The author of the article concludes that the multifariousness of the life of lawyers in both writers underlines their life experience on the way to holiness. An important element of the characters’ description is their sinfulness, in particular the fi ght against their own pride and human passion. In the case of Leo Tolstoy, the image of his literary right-wing was influenced by the writer’s views on the essence of holiness and the complex human-God relationship. In their portraits of heroes striving for spiritual perfection, both Tolstoy and Vodolazkin show a connection with the genre of hagiography.

The theme of the article focuses on the description of the tactile sphere selected for the presentation of Russian literary prose figures from the second half of the 19th century and the beginning of the 21st century. The term “homo hapticus” is understood in the article as a characterization of a figure expressed through touch. At the same time, haptics, representative of the physical, biological side of the characters’ functioning in the world, is closely related to their spiritual sphere and can be referred to types of saintly characters. These dependencies are expressed by both the touching and the touched subject, and in particular by the body elements involved in the haptic turn – in my examples these are the hands and the mouth. The author of the article comes to the conclusion that the haptics of the analysed characters abolishes the binary between the material and spiritual worlds. He points out that touch reflects not only a specific physical action, but is closely related to the Russian cultural context, primarily the religious. It is the haptics of the figures who act as healers that allows them to be called righteous men – expressing a loving Christian attitude towards their fellow man.