Abstract
The genre-forming factors of the prose miniature are considered within the framework of the artistic experience of mastering reality – in the context of aesthetic spiritual contemplation and ethical cognition. The peculiarities of the organization of Bunin's short works of art, which correspond to the forms of the lyric and epic in miniature, have been revealed. Genre features such as the foregrounding of the essential moment of life, the great concentration of details, the tendency of the word to symbolism, the unity of the narrator and the author, receptive aesthetics as a tool of communication between the author and the reader, and strengthening the aesthetic impact of the word were defined. The methods of immanent analysis of the artistic structure, analysis of the artistic world of the writer and analysis of the context of his works – historical, cultural, social and literary – were used. In order to show the connection between the author's position and the artistic form a comparison of the artistic method of I. Bunin with I. Babel was made. The position of the writers is examined through the iconic realities of the Civil Revolution era. The role of philosophical thought and value imprinted in the image, both aesthetic and ethical, is highlighted as organizing the genre structure. The significance of linguistic means of expressing a realistic picture of the world is shown. It is the function of the character’s language in Bunin's epic sketch and synesthesia in lyrical description in Babel's prose. In the tragic pathos of I. Babel’s “Idali” the artistic tools forming a miniature were found. Motifs of the attitude to life in the works of the writers are compared – the motif of alienation of life, characteristic of Bunin's various works, and the motif of searching for the truth of life in Babel's short work. The conclusion presents the value of the factors that constitute the brief genre form – enhancing the aesthetic role of the author's position and the ethical function of the character.
Keywords
Prose miniature, genre-forming factors, short prose forms, author's position, synaesthesia, system of images, reader, aesthetics of contemplation, ethical value, artistic method.