Оповідка: від ритуалу до метажанрових новацій

Abstract

Сьогодні оповідка є одним із найпопулярніших жанрів, який хоч і виник ще в прадавні часи, проте не був ґрунтовно дослідженим. Тому крім спроби окреслити історію жанру, в статті звернено увагу на проблеми та перспективи вивчення оповідки.

People have been creating and disseminating short stories from time immemorial. We will never be able to find out exactly when short stories first appeared, as the genre preceded the emergence of ancient civilizations and written language. Despite this fact, the short story was defined as an independent and self-sufficient literary genre in the 20th century. Not only was the genre established quite late, but it has not been researched sufficiently. The first theoretical works appeared only in the 1960s, and in the 21st century, the short story is drawing strong attention from researchers in different fields. Scholars have outlined the existence of the storytelling function in psychoanalysis, cognitive science, and the political sphere and power relations, but they have been inclined to ignore the strong impact of literary storytelling as a cultural practice. At the beginning of the article, the author expounds the theoretical and philosophical exigencies of contemporary short story studies. She then succinctly outlines the history of this literary genre from ritual to meta-genre innovation. The investigation of the genre’s history highlights the genre’s features, providing the opportunity to distinguish the short story from other types of short fiction. Adding to the topic, the author defines issues of modern philosophical and scientific perceptions of the short story as a phenomenon, today’s most empowered and widespread form of sharing notions. Finally, the author determines what can be denominated as a short story in contemporary literature and illustrates this through the translation of Etgar Keret’s “Pipes”, which was the first work in the oeuvre of the prominent and well-known contemporary Israeli writer.