Folklore roots of images in Chekhov’s poetics: “The Steppe” and “The Black Monk”

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of A.P. Chekhov’s works in the context of folklore tradition. The topic itself is interesting and productive from the viewpoint of the folklore tradition manifestation in the work of the classic, since Chekhov is often considered a “non-folkloric” writer. More recently, the theme “Chekhov and folklore” began being referred by researchers. The article raises the question about various folklorism forms in poetics, stylizations and borrowings, and latent folklorism forms. The object of research is a later work, the novella “Steppe”. The subject of the article is folklorism principles in poetics. The novella is considered in the paradigm with the plot of another later work of the writer - the story “The Black Monk”. Also it draws parallels with S. A Yesenin poem’s “The Black Man” and the poem of V. Khlebnikov “The Stone Woman” revealing common “folklore” elements in all the texts. Historical-literary, typological analysis methods and folkloristic commentary on the text are leading approaches to the study of this problem. This leads to the following results: figurative system folklore foundations identification in the story makes it possible to raise the question of ontological principle in Chekhov’s poetics, bringing the reader and the researcher to ontological narrative scene, despite the fact that the writer was often perceived as a portrayer of ordinary life.