Narrative Models of Representation of Family Memory in the Short Prose by I. Stefiuk (About You) and L.-P. Strynadiuk (How will I Live on Polonyna (Pasture))

Abstract

Significance of the proposed research lies in typologically similar representation of autobiography focused on family memories in works by I.  Stefiuk and L.-P.  Strynadiuk. The aim of the article is to  identify and characterise narrative models of expressing family memories in the short prose by  I.  Stefiuk (collection ‘About You’) and L.-P.  Strynadiuk (collection ‘How will I Live on Polonyna (pasture)’). Subjects of investigation are selected short stories from the aforementioned collections. Methods of  the research: narratological analysis, comparative method, and receptive aesthetics. As  a  result of our investigation, we came to conclusion that retrospective narrative models with linear and non-linear chronological organization facilitate fiction representation of family memory in short prose by I.  Stefiuk and L.-P.  Strynadiuk. Non-linear narrative models are significantly wider represented and organised in several samples: childhood memory — actualization of the present and/or projection into the future (‘Taste of Jonathan’, ‘Green Wax’, ‘Mytro’s Camomiles’ etc. by I.  Stefiuk); fusion of different time layers (‘Near the Well’, ‘Birth of a Woman’, ‘Summer in a Bowl’ et al. by I. Stefiuk); projection into the future — actualization of the past and/or present (‘Wurda’, ‘Thunder and Lightning’  by L.-P. Strynadiuk), etc. In such a story made by the means of voice of ‘I’ — narrator, inextricability of  the  link between chronotope of childhood, language (Hutsul dialect), national traditions is represented. Intimacy of  a  dialogue with reader is provided due to self-irony, nostalgic mood of the narration where we notice gratitude to family (grandmother, grandfather, mother — in texts by  I.  Stefiuk) and the focus is on  the  feeling of  their constant presence. Linear narrative model, organized in the present time of  the  story, is presented in  the essay ‘Polonyna (pasture) — is me’ by L.-P. Strynadiuk. We are convinced that this investigation can be continued, particularly in the aspect of comparing fiction worlds represented in the text by I. Stefiuk and L.-P. Strynadiuk.