Title of the article:

THE CONCEPT OF “TEMPORAL RIFT” IN THE SHORT STORY “THE DIABOLIAD” BY M.A. BULGAKOV

Author(s):

Vera V. Koroleva, Alina R. Pritomskaya

Information about the author/authors

Vera V. Koroleva — Doctor of Philology, Associate Professor, Head of the Department of the Second Foreign Language and Methods of Teaching Foreign Languages, Vladimir State University, Stroitelei Ave., 11, 600024 Vladimir, Russia.
ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7608-9772
E-mail: queenvera@yandex.ru

Alina R. Pritomskaya — Assistant, Vladimir State University, Vladimir State University, Stroitelei Ave., 11, 600024 Vladimir, Russia.
ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-0948-770X
E-mail: gera.greenhill@gmail.com

Section

Philological sciences

Year

2024

Volume

Vol. 74

Pages

pp. 131–145

Received

January 23, 2024

Approved after reviewing

October 07, 2024

Date of publication

December 29, 2024

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.37816/2073-9567-2024-74-131-145

Index UDK

821.161.1.09

Index BBK

83.3(2)

Abstract

The paper provides a comprehensive study of the concept of “time” in M.A. Bulgakov's novel “The Diaboliad”. Basing on the hypothesis of the discontinuity of time (O.V. Shalygina), the authors assume that the passage of time in the story is torn as a result of the superimposition of a layer of old time on a layer of new time, which creates a temporal breakdown, the cause of which is a special turning point in the history of Russia — the Revolution — which marked the transition from non-viable time to the new, accelerated one. The study distinguishes historical (destruction of the natural course of objective `historical` time, displacement of familiar chronological boundaries as a result of fundamental economic and political changes in the country) and personal (feeling of falling out of time as a result of slowing down, accelerating or shifting historical time) types of temporal breakdown and describes the means of their creation: lexical (direct lexical time pointers, adverbs and verbs with the semantics of unnaturally fast action), syntactic (parcellation, change of narrative rhythm, asyndeton, accumulation of verbs) and stylistic (hyperbole, grotesque, alliteration, repetitions, synecdoche). The authors conclude that the result of a temporal breakdown in the story is the fallout of the protagonist, who finds himself in a situation of strong emotional shock, from time (madness) and his exit into the space of boundlessness (death).

Keywords

Concept of “Time”, Temporal Rift, Transitional Period, Grotesque, Destructive Irony, Puppetry, Doubleness.

Reference

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