The peculiarities of “magic realism” in E. Nekrasova’s novel “Kalechina-Malechina”

Abstract

The subject of this research is the novel by the contemporary author Evgenia Nekrasova “Kalechina-Malechina”. The novel contains the elements of fantasy and mysticism, which can either have purely rational, materialistic explanation or irrational – surrealistic. Therefore, the composition is viewed through the prism of synthesis of the elements of magical, irrational and familiar everyday reality. Such approach allows attributing the novel to “magic realism”, which is interpreted not as a school or direction, but a literary method used by multiple authors of various national literatures. The key characteristics of the methods as follows: system of the two worlds, binary chronotope, duplicity, and mythological implication. The complex methodological approach includes intertextual analysis and mythopoetic commentary. The conducted analysis allowed determining the peculiarities of structuring artistic world in the novel; principles of creating chronotope and conflicts between individual and the society; principles of narrative structure; and motifs. The novel by E. Nekrasova “Kalechina-Malechina” represents an example of the literary method of magic realism, which manifests on the level of system of the two worlds and development of the chronotope. Narrative structure is built on the synthesis of child’s worldview of the heroine and the author’s vision, which leads to an ambivalent perception of the world. The article provides a detailed overview of the storyline, which main theme is the initiation of the main heroine into the adult life assisted by a magical helper – Kikimora.