Boychenko O. The Prose of J. P. Donleavy and "Black Humor School" in American Literature of (1950-1970-s of XX century).

The thesis is devoted to the analysis of American-Irish writer James Patrick Donleavy. Its novelty lies in the fact that it is the first complex research of the novels by J. P. Donleavy in the Ukrainian literary criticism. The analysis of his works is carried out in the context of "black humor" literature. The development of writer's artistic style in the aspect of the evolution of his philosophical views, the principles of artistic narration, imagery and stylistic registers of motives and creativity has been traced. The basic principles of J. P. Donleavy's poetics embodied in his literary work of 50-70's of the XX century have been analyzed. J. P. Donleavy offers innovative figurative-expressive means and techniques: the fragmentation of sentences; the use of epitaphs at the end of the chapters; alternating narrators; recurrent use of Present Participle, which adds euphony to the discourse; eclecticism; the use of mythological elements, etc. One of J. P. Donleavy's artistic features is the presentation of a large number of minor comic characters and detailed, taken from life, paradoxical situations that approximate novels to reality. Irony, parody and grotesque are the main means of writer's poetical technique.