THE MOTIF OF DUALITY IN SVETOSLAV MINKOV’S STORIES

Abstract

This paper is dedicated to the investigation of the reasons for the double appearing in Svetoslav Minkov’s stories, the archetype roots of the duality motif in these works, the variants of duality and the connection of this motif with Minkov’s conception of the human. Three groups of stories in which the motif of duality has a constructive function are marked in the paper: bifurcation of the hero, when a part of his nature separates and starts its own existence; appearance of artificially made human likeness; representation of doubles by objects. Attention is paid mainly to the stories in which human beings and plants (or objects, things, etc.) are constantly replacing each other. Such stories are: “Blue Chrysanthemum”, “Asphalt” and “The Story of One Begonia”. The investigation of the story “Blue Chrysanthemum” is accompanied by parallels with the works of Nikolai Gogol (“Portrait”) and Alexander Grin (“Mysterious Disc” and “Grey Automobile”), in which the thing gains power over man, as well as with Karel Chapek’s story, which emphasizes the uniqueness of the blue chrysanthemum. Psychological and mystical motivations of what happened to the hero of the story “Blue Chrysanthemum” (fear as a cause of hallucinations or the mythological motif of the subject, which becomes the twin of its owner and avenges instead of him) are offered. In the stories “Asphalt” and “Story of One Begonia” the identification of heroes and objects (things) has another sense: it emphasizes the abnormality of the emptiness of life of the heroes. The author of the article applied to the study of Minkov's stories a motive analysis, hermeneutic strategies, as well as a typological method.