B. Shulz and I. Babel: toward a typology of text of the transitional period

Abstract

Aim. The article is devoted to the comparative analysis of two short stories: «Korichniye lavki» («The cinnamon shops») by B. Schultz and «Konarmiya» («Red cavalry») by I. Babel. The goal of the work is to juxtapose these stories, to show the closeness of their artistic worlds – both in the general ideological elements, and in the spatial organization, and in the relations of the author and character. Methods. First of all, a comparative-typological method was used, which helped to define the features constituting a special type of text on the borderline of artistic paradigms. Analyzing specific works, we used the method of holistic analysis developed by the Donetsk philological school, as well as the method of hermeneutic analysis based on the principles of H.-G. Gadamer expressed in the article «Truth and method», i. e. reflecting the semantic perspective characteristic of the author. Results. It was shown that these works have similar genre structure. It also became clear that these works reflect the general tendencies of spiritual life – the godforsakennes and its consequences, a sense of fracture of historical time. The stories of B. Schultz and I. Babel are also connected by a similar vision of space. The description of natural space shows one of the main themes – the excess of nature’s forces, the vital completeness of nature. The analysis showed that these works have common features of the subject organization: the author does not tell us about the events directly, but from the point of view of the main character. In both works, this main character-narrator has two hypostases: on the one hand, he is the subject of action and experience, on the other – the prism and the outside perspective of the depicted world. Scientific novelty. The article carried out for the first time a comparative analysis of the short stories by B. Schultz «Korichniye lavki» («The cinnamon shops») and I. Babel «Konarmiya» («Red cavalry») through the prism of space, time and subjective organization analysis. For the first time the peculiarities of the author's view, typical for the text of the boundary situation, are revealed: it is a stricken view and an arrested view. Practical significance. The article can be used to further study the typological features of B. Schultz and I. Babel works. Scientific results can be applied in writing term papers and diploma papers.