Вклад И. С. Тургенева в становление романа как жанра

Abstract

The identity of a literary genre plays an outstandingly important role both in conveying the contents of a given work and in the reception of it. If one takes into account the work's structural and semantic determiners its adherence to a given genre appears as one of the most telling ,,guideposts'* tuning the reader (ox the listener) and preparing him for an esthetically adequate perception of the text. This is what nourishes the theory stating that literature can be thought of in terms of genres and that such notions make it possible to claritfy the complex universum of literary products. "The history of the novel can be signified with the nutńbes $ (let us here agree on this symbol). In the initial stage of amorphousness and formal dispersion the genre we today call the noveł remained beyond the scope of classical poetics. It was only in the 19th century when the novel evolved as a fully developed genre. And that was the result of an "accomplishment” done by the great novelists of the age. That period, then, can be considered a genuine ,„dawn” of the novel, an emergence from the *zero” level. In the 20 th century another *'dispersion”” has occurred reaching the point of the antinovel (le nouveau roman) and placing again the novel in the forefront by literary genres. '"Turgenev's version of the novel—which in itself is a large contribution to the formation of this genre—gained its significance through a peculiar and, in a sense, parallel merge of two structures: the one of the epic with that of the novel. Nevertheless, what is of importance here is neither the writer's technical device nor a formal juxtaposition. Turgenev's works differ from epic forms in that they do not focus merely on social matters in their utmost intensity, but show the events of protagonists” lives as well. On the other hand, they are different from the novel owing to the writer's abandonment of episodic plots for the sake of featuring the main characters. And this is a truly important landmark. Seen in this ligt "Turgenev's works appear to be novelistic epics winding around the lives of characters representative of the age, its spirit and progress. This is one aspect of 'Turgenev's novels. The other is love understood as one's lot or fate. "The clash of these two forces leads to the tragic denouement. From the historical and literary angles Turgenev's version of the novel was neither unique nor ideal. But, in the structural and semiotic perspectives, it seems to be a verily important output the potential of which has not yet expired.