«Self – solitude – seclusion»: paradoxes of childhood joy in Anna Gavalda’s «95 Pounds of Hope»

Abstract

Aim The article focuses on the problem of solitude of a teenage hero, the main character of Anna Gavalda’s «95 Pounds of Hope», as an important existential factor in identity formation. The aim of this article is to reveal and analyze the phenomenon of joy in artistic interpretation of a «lonely» child.

Methods embraces the careful reading technique, principles of receptive poetics, phenomenological and hermeneutical approaches to the understanding of literary works, and the concept of childhood. The applied techniques and methods enabled the detailed character and plot analysis, particularly in view of the reader’s theory.

Results The artistic expression of children's issues in the «adult» work within the context of modern society has been analyzed. The features of «child-joy-adult» correlation and its possible transformations as exemplified by Anna Gavalda’s «95 Pounds of Hope» have been examined. The analysis of the problem of family from the child’s perspective, as well as the artistic implementation of family values issue, have been represented.

Scientific novelty The material proposed for the research – Anna Gavalda’s «95 Pounds of Hope», has been completely out of researchers’ focus of attention. In addition, literary works about children and childhood for the adult audience obviously require special attention as an autonomous group alongside with children's and adult literature. This literary gap remains one of the least studied ones and therefore constitutes the relevant research material due to the special vector of problematics.

The practical significance The article can be used for further research of literature about children, artistic embodiment of the paradigm of joy and problem of childhood in the works of world literature. Results of scientific research can provide the basis for writing term papers and theses.