Kronelope in Ulitskaya's Short Stories

Abstract

The features of the composition of small prose by L. Ulitskaya (on the example of the stories "Bronka", "Happy", "Poor Relatives") are analyzed. Particular attention is paid to the features of picturing time in stories, to the past which is sometimes more important for understanding the motives and characters of L. Ulitskaya’s heroes than the present and even the future. Heroes of L. Ulitskaya live in the past; her prose is permeated with nostalgic intonation. In many respects this is due to the author's attention to the values ​​of the departed world, the world of the old Moscow intelligentsia and the new Soviet intelligentsia, due to their comparison and opposition. Family intimacy in his prose, seen in the context of the separate lives of the family members, reveals the characteristic feature of his work as a kronelope. Getting a retrospective image that lets the boundaries of time to extend is the routine of Ulitskaya's stories. The flow of time in Ulitskaya's narrative is intermittent and heterogeneous, and is based on the key events of the subject and less important events from the author's point of view. The intimate atmosphere of the inner world of the heroes and the nostalgic attitudes resulting from their experiences create a unique feature in Ulitskaya's short prose.