Anti-war pathos in the V. M. Garshin's short story Четыре дня

Vol.26,No.2(2023)

Josef Dohnal

https://doi.org/10.5817/SL2023-2-5

Stable URL (handle):
http://hdl.handle.net/11222.digilib/digilib.79436

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Abstract
The essay analyses the thought process of the subject of the narrative in the short story V. M. Garshin's Четыре дня [Four Days]. The distinctly autobiographical text in ich-form concentrates on an "insignificant" war episode in which the subject of the narrative becomes both the one who killed the enemy and, thanks to an injury, immobile. Over the course of four days, during which he lies next to the naturalistically depicted gradually decomposing body of the dead enemy, he reflects on his situation, reassesses his naive view of war, and comes to oppose war itself by pitting individuals who are no different in their claim to life and in their roles in life against each other. The story of the Четыре дня thus speaks to the absurdity and senselessness of war itself.

Keywords:
V. M. Garshin; Четыре дня; depathetisation; subjective view of war; resistance to war; autobiographical

Pages:
47–52
References

GARŠIN, Vsevolod Michajlovič: Četyre dnja. In: GARŠIN, Vsevolod Michajlovič: Sočinenija. Moskva: Chudožestvennaja literatura, 1983, s. 25–35.

KOSTŘICA, Vladimír: V. M. Garšin a ruské malířství. Rossica Olomucensia. Supplementum 2. Olomouc: Filozofická fakulta Univerzity Palackého, 1970.

STENBORG, Lennart: Die Zeit als strukturelles Element im literarischen Werk (mit Illustrationen aus der Novellistik V. M. Garšins). Studia Slavica Uppsaliensis 16. Uppsala: Almquist & Wiksell, 1975.

STENBORG, Lennart: Studien zur Erzähltechnik in den Novellen V. M. Garšins. Acta Universitatis Uppsaliensis. Studie Slavica Uppsaliensis 11. Uppsala: Almquist & Wiksells Boktryckeri, 1972.

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