«Our Town» and its «End»: an intertextual journey between the worlds of T. Wilder and D. Hatzis

Abstract

Сопоставление произведения-источника интертекста и произведения-реципиента интертекста расширяет возможности для интерпретации последнего. Осветив тему взаимосвязи текста «Το τέλος της μικρής μας πόλης» Д. Хадзиса и «Нашего городка» Т. Уайлдера, мы получили более точное представление о логике построения сюжетов, выстраивания системы персонажей, формирования образа нарратора, пространственно-временного плана произведения, тематического и смыслового наполнения сборника. The title of the book «Το τέλος της μικρής μας πόλης» by D. Hatzis suggests a vague reference to the title of another literary work — «Our Town» by T. Wilder. Reading the book, we try to understand if there is any reason to assume that these works are related, and perhaps conclude that this is just a coincidence. However, the narrator interrupts the process of figuring out and exposes his intention in the short story «Ο ντέτεκτιβ», directly making reference to the play by T. Wilder, and even speaking to the writer himself. As in the story itself, the clue that promises a sense of relief only raises new questions. The manifestations of intertextuality are always evidence of permeability of boundaries of the world of the literary work. Testing this boundary is one of D. Hadzis’s regular artistic purposes, so references to other literary works are quite frequent in his work. The use of intertext in «Το τέλος της μικρής μας πόλης», background at first glance, nevertheless reaches into the foundations of the world of literary work, creating many interconnections at all levels: plot, genre, composition.