Epicization of Drama Structure in Plays of Yaroslava Pulinovich

Abstract

The aspects of poetics in drama works by Y. Pulinovich, a representative of the newest Russian drama, are described in the article. Analizing her plays (I Won’t Come Back, Natasha’s Dream, My Way, I Won, How I Became, Somnambulism, Janna, Elsa’s Land, etc.) we itemize means and methods of drama structure epicization (plenty of monologues of diff erent kinds, such as confession monologue, memories monologue, inner monologue; fi rst person narration, expanded remarks, epenthetic constructions, e.g. ‘little chapters’, tales, etc.). The principle which organizes literary material (a story or an epizode of character’s life, fi rst person narration, expanded commentary remarks) is what predetermined architectonics of the plays: numbered “stories-chapters” instead of drama acts, fragmentation of episodes and scenes, montage of them. At the same time the epical does not dominate the dramatical.

We pay attention to the inner self-analytic confl ict which reveals the protagonist’s character, his or her psychology and perception, attitude to the surrounding people, critical view to the events. It is said about specifi cs of space and time continuum of the plays which is cinematographic in its essence (the locuses are: hostel, railway station, cafe, canteen, school, children’s home, etc.). The key topos of the spaces is “another’s
home” or dysfunctional “own home”.

We come to conclusion about the novelty in the interpretation of character (self-affi rming character) and show its distinction from the characters of “new drama” plays (self-identifi cation, self-analysis, self-affi rmation, belief in the best, etc.). Y. Pulinovich dissects her characters’ psychology, its worldview, dynamics of its thought, its formation, not just of age but also of soul. The playwright takes up an issue of a human (of diff erent ages) in contemporary society, tries to fi nd the cause (upbringing in a children’s home or incomplete family, relations between fathers and children) which infl uence the formation of contemporary people.