To the Question of Genre and the Poetics of Space («The Black Prince» by I. Murdoch and «The Thirteenth Tale» by D. Setterfield)

Abstract

The starting point of the research presented is the analysis of two, at first sight, peripheral loci such as a paper shop and a bookshop in the novels «The Black Prince» by I. Murdoch and «The Thirteenth Tale» by D. Setterfield. The author
 of the article proves that in both cases these loci are closely connected with each other, the garden, aligned with the key motives of the mystery (in mysterious
 and criminal senses) and ones of the duality, projected in the twin myth, ones of the heroes’ loss of their integrity and the desire to regain it. The discovered parallels suggest their non-accidental nature and, possibly, D. Setterfield’s conscious allusion
 to the «Black Prince» by I. Murdoch. However, the apparent similarity in the motive structure and the appeal to
 the same elements of the literary space of the novel is offset by the fact that in the novels by I. Murdoch and D. Setterfield these elements perform different core functions. In this regard, the author raises the question about possible genre differences
 found in these works and manifested in the poetics of space.
 The article draws final conclusion that I. Murdoch and D. Setterfield obviously rely on different genre traditions; respectively, a myth-novel in its mysterious
 version and a novel of family secret. The first one implies a fundamental incomprehensibility 
 of a mystery that can only be reduced to a criminal riddle and always has an existential nature. In the second case, the secret is purely criminal and it is to be solved so that the heroes’ loss of their personal integrity is overcome.