A. Averchenko’s works of the emigration period: development of the comic genre

Abstract

The article examines the elements of the comic and their development in the writer’s works in accordance with changes of mood and life circumstances, clarifies the basic terms in this field of literature, means and methods of creating the comic, the relationship of dichotomous elements of the comic and tragic in his stories, analyses some of the author’s favourite literary images and features of his story. Based on a wide range of subjects of study of A. Averchenko’s works, covering the evolution of his views, mood swings, motives and themes of works – stories and feuilletons, as well as certain periods of creativity, including exile and emigration, the purpose of the article is analysis of scientific reception development of the comic genre in A. Averchenko’s works of the emigration period. It is determined that researchers divide the writer’s work into mainly humorous (pre-revolutionary period) and mainly satirical (postrevolutionary period), by genre varieties – everyday stories and humoresques devoted to the surrounding reality; stories, the plot of which is often created by the author’s imagination (with grotesque, hyperbole, caricature); to create a comic writer skilfully uses appropriate tools and techniques – irony, sarcasm, compositional, descriptive and narrative features; works of this period the context of tragedy is formed, in which the comic acquires other forms – black humour and tragicomic; the genre of satire is developing in his works, which characterizes the new literature. It is concluded that the peculiarities of the scientific reception of A. Averchenko’s works should reveal not only the significance of his works in the general development of literature, not only his place among famous satirists, but also their features within the general problem of small narrative genre, in particular comic poetics stories and feuilletons.