The story Coward by V.M. Garshin and the novella The Yoke of War by L.N. Andreev: linguistic and stylistic analysis
- DOI
- 10.5922/vestnikpsy-2024-3-3
- Pages
- 24-36
Abstract
Researchers of L. N. Andreev’s work agree that the artistic methods of the first expressionist in Russian prose were significantly influenced by the work of V. M. Garshin. Taking this continuity into account, the article compares the texts of Garshin’s story Coward and Andreev’s novella The Yoke of War. The aim of the study is to identify similar features in the idiolects of the “forerunner of expressionism” and the “singer of horrors and nightmares”, while considering the functioning of means expressing the category of intensity. This approach allows for an expanded understanding of the evolution and transformation of such a unique direction in Russian literature as expressionism. Drawing on the texts of the works, the article demonstrates similar techniques in the depiction of the theme of war, which became the connecting link in the creative dialogue between the two writers, representing different generations of Russian literature. A more specific conclusion is made about L. N. Andreev’s changing perception of war by establishing connections between the late story The Yoke of War and the 1904 expressionist novella Red Laughter.