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Abstract: The article is devoted to absurd as a means of text formation in the works of N. V. Gogol and M. A. Bulgakov. Absurd is interpreted by the author of the article from the content-formal positions: both as the absence of meaning (absurdity, nonsense), and as a form of transformation of meaning determined by the author’s goal setting (carnivalization of utterance). The article attempts to identify representations of absurd in the fiction of Gogol and Bulgakov based on the theoretical model of the genre created by N. L. Leiderman. In the prose of Gogol, absurd is a necessary component of human existence, its system-forming feature. Absurd is represented at the level of content (the use of absurd plot moves and situations), at the level of expression (the transfer of absurd through the subject and speech organization of the text) and at the level of perception. The specificity of speech organization of the text in the prose of Gogol can be attributed to: introduction of words into the context, intentional violations of lexical compatibility, special construction of complex sentences, combination of the meanings of “affirmation – negation” in one sentence, mixing of stylistic systems, the use of means of linguistic reflection, artistic details and other expressive means of language and speech. In its turn, the specificity of Bulgakov's prose presupposes a semi-fantastic and fantastic embodiment of reality. To intertwine reality and fiction Bulgakov actively uses the potential of the text chronotope, lexemes denoting deviation from the norm (“strange”, “insane”, “ridiculous”, “inexplicable”, etc.) and a number of devices expressing the author’s attitude to what is being discussed. The author of this article associates the prospects for the study of absurd with the journalistic format of discourse. These prospects may include the identification of the informational nature of absurd (the initial lack of meaning or its transformation); the definition of the genre form of absurd statements; the characteristic of the functions of absurd and its speech representations (coding tools); the development of a series of techniques and a comprehensive methodology for decoding the absurd, as well as establishing its role and place in the paradigm of journalistic discourse.

About the author(s) :

Natalya B. Ruzhentseva

Ural State Pedagogical University (Ekaterinburg, Russia)

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1208-1202

Publication Timeline:

Date of receipt: 20.02.2025; date of publication: 28.03.2025

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