Імпресіоністична поетика новел В. Вулф „Королівський сад” та М. Коцюбинського „Intermezzo”

Abstract

The article compares two examples of modernist short stories of the early twentieth century – „Kew Gardens” by the British writer W. Woolf and „Intermezzo” by the Ukrainian writer M. Kotsyubynsky. Such a comparative study has been carried out for the first time. Most researchers associate Woolfe with „stream of consciousness” literature, but in the short story „Kew Gardens” we see signs of impressionist poetics. “Intermezzo” by M. Kotsiubynsky is traditionally regarded as an example of impressionism. In both texts, the narration is in the first person, there are elements of the „stream of consciousness”; the opposition of social and natural worlds is shown. The narrators in both short stories enjoy the contemplation of nature. The English literary writing contains a fragmentary composition, combining disparate, unrelated episodes. In the Ukrainian text, we observe the internal evolution of the main character-narrator, who is internally reborn in the bosom of nature, filled with new forces. Differences between short stories: Virginia Woolf depicts several visitors to London’s Kew Gardens; Kotsyubinsky creates an autobiographical image of the writer, who is reborn under the influence of nature. In both literary writings, sound, visual, tactile images play an important role, in particular, images of flowers, a snail (W. Woolf), summer fields, the sun, larks, three white shepherd dogs (M. Kotsyubinsky). Both literary writings are examples of the psychological mood of the modernist novella. A comparative analysis of the two texts allows us to compare the Ukrainian literary process with world trends.