The research paper investigates the flash fiction by Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi from the perspective of cognitive narratology. There is emphasized that cognitive theory of analysis offers the following step-by-step concept for the study of narrative texts: narration implies communication, communication implies perception and perception on its part implies cognition. The application of the cognitive approach facilitated the identification of readers’aesthetic reactions and emotional states in the writer’s texts. It is defined such effects as unresolvedness (etude “Apple blossom”, novella “Intermezzo”), uncertainty (etude “Unknown”), incompleteness (etude “Pupa”), astonishment (novella “Debut”), uncertainty (short story “With a high price”), cognitive dissonance (novella “What is put down in the book of life”) and cognitive effect of irony (novellas “The praise to the life”, “The gift for a name-day”).
The attention to the cognitive aspects of the text is paid in «Poetics» by Aristotle, which states that narrative is a representation of actions which are aimed to evoke emotions. Presently narratological studies have become extremely popular. In particular, cognitive narratology focuses on exploring the connections between perception, language, knowledge, memory and the world. By actualizing these connections, the reader is fully in tune with the text, so that it enables him or her to identify his or her state.
Сognitive narratology belongs to postclassical one and is a branch of science that works on the following questions: What is narrative? How do cognitive processes help to interpret narrative? What is the basis of narrative representations? Which states and reactions does the reader experience during the perception of the narrative text (D. Herman)?
Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi presented himself as a talented writer with artist’s skill and musician’s virtuosity. It declares the genre variety of flash fiction of the writer. There are short story, novella, fairy tale, sketch, watercolor, so called obrazok (image) and skits. It is figured out some features which are inherent for the author’s writing. We mentioned such traits as: concise expression and completeness of each phrase; revealing of fiction details and their semantics; psychological landscape, especially fragmentary and moody; synthesis of arts: literature-painting, literature-music; the ability to simulate an implied subtext and intrigue of the reader with the aim of creating aesthetic effects. It is proved that flash fiction by Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi is a vivid sample of innovative and emotionally enriched narrative manner.
The scientific novelty of a paper is that it is the first time in the history of Ukrainian literary criticism, when the analysis of flash fiction by Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi was conducted from the point of view of cognitive narratology, namely: the psychological and emotional states of the characters and the reader in the author's texts were outlined, aesthetic effects were revealed in them. In the course of the research the interpretive model of analysis of narrative texts from the perspective of cognitive theory was improved, for the first time the concept of effects of "uncertainty", "indecision", "incompleteness", "uncertainty", "confusion", "cognitive effect of irony" was represented within cognitive tools. It is claimed that the narrative strategy of Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi is an innovative textual representation, directed towards forming the desired effect in the recipient.
The theoretical significance of the paper. The main statements of the work facilitate the deepening of knowledge about the theoretical and methodological basics of narratology in modern literary studies; contribute to the interpretation of the specifics of cognitive narratology; reveal new possibilities of cognitive reading and comprehension of the literary text; identify ways to transform the narrative discourse of flash fiction by Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi; substantiate the role of aesthetic effects in the structure of fragmentary works of the classic writer.
The Benefits of the Study is substantiated by the possibility of the use of obtained results in the study of the history of Ukrainian literature of the late XIX – early XX centuries, mainly it is connected with the individual style of the writer. The materials of the research work can be used in textbooks, manuals or elective courses on the features of cognitive analysis of literary texts, for writing scientific papers on the history and theory of literature, for lecturing on the history of Ukrainian literature of the late nineteenth - early twentieth century. The proposed concept can be used for aesthetic and cognitive analysis of works of art of Ukrainian literature.
Key words: narratology, cognitive narratology, frame, script, reading process, aesthetic effect, uncertainty, incompleteness, sketch, reader, style, genre, reception, impressionism.
