Expositional discourse and its narrative function in the short prose of I.S. Turgenev

Abstract

The author explores the expositional discourse and its narrative function in the prose of I.S. Turgenev. The analysis of the lyrical beginning is given as the reason for the special Turgenev exposition, which is a manifestation of the horizons and value consciousness of the author-narrator. It is noticed that it is in lyrical descriptions that the subjective space of the narrator is formed. In Turgenev's prose, there are stories in which the exposition is based on similarities with poems in prose. In such texts, the exposition is only indirectly related to the further development of the plot. It often represents a closed system and functions at the level of metatext and meta-discourse. At this level, the lyrical introduction is designed to affect the spiritual space of the reader. The novelty of the study is given by the conclusions made regarding the cycle "Notes of the hunter". According to them, I.S. Turgenev also has such introductions to the main narrative that do not fit into the "canon". In the stories "Bezhin Meadow", "Date" and others, the exposition implements a specific strategy of the author's narrative. It is as if it is not provided for by the further development of the plot and is a pure product of lyrical and philosophical contemplation of nature. It is a reflection of the subjective perception of the hero-narrator. On its basis, an idea of the world and space belonging to the innermost side of the spiritual personality of the writer is formed. The natural images in the exposition part of the stories are artistically comprehended in the categories of "eternity", opposing the "temporary" plan of human existence.