• Original research article
  • April 24, 2024
  • Open access

Stage nature of Raymond Carver’s short stories

Abstract

The interest of theater directors in R. Carver’s short stories and their adaptability to the demands of the stage opens up new frontiers for the study of his novellas. The texts meet the demands of the stage/screen due to several features. The writer preferred a “dramatized” way of reflecting reality. The aim of this research is to identify the stage characteristics of R. Carver’s texts. The scientific novelty of the paper consists, on the one hand, in identifying the unique thematic and stylistic features of Carver’s writings, his place in American literature, as well as in the context of world literature, and, on the other hand, the paper expands the boundaries of the literary canon, enriching the cultural experience of researchers in Russia. The uniqueness of the research lies in advancing our understanding of the literary genre. By expanding the boundaries of the genre, clarifying its historical evolution, analyzing reader reception, exploring intertextual connections, and assessing literary influence, such a paper makes a valuable contribution to the field of literary studies. The research findings have shown that R. Carver’s experiments with drama and screenplays were reflected in his prose works and manifested themselves in the creation of the “stage story”. The elements of drama used in short stories help recreate an atmosphere of mystery and arouse interest in what is happening off-screen. Dramatic techniques are found at various levels of the narrative: in the composition of the material, in the construction of dialogues of the stories, in attention to the inner life of the characters, expressed in the external, for example, in the description of gestures.

References

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Author information

Elvira Alfredovna Kharrasova

Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University

Ramirez Jose Valentin Torres

Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University

About this article

Publication history

  • Received: January 29, 2024.
  • Published: April 24, 2024.

Keywords

  • Раймонд Карвер
  • сценический рассказ
  • драматические приемы
  • диалогизация повествования
  • Raymond Carver
  • stage story
  • dramatic techniques
  • dialogization of the narrative

Copyright

© 2024 The Author(s)
© 2024 Gramota Publishing, LLC

User license

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)