In Search of Alaska" by J. Green: The poetics of the crisis novel

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to identify the originality of the initiation plot in the latest US literature, the target audience of which is a young reader (Young Adult Literature). The article explores how the rite of passage is portrayed in the renowned novel "In Search of Alaska" by J. D. Salinger. It delves into the core elements of the genre, such as the type of hero, the plot structure, and the character development. The semantic center of the work under consideration is formed by the problems of growing up, the existential self-identification of the individual, the metaphor of which is the "Search for the Great Possible" (F. Rabelais), as well as overcoming personal crises and traumatic experiences. This scientific research makes a theoretical contribution to the study of the modern literary process, since the poetics of the work chosen for analysis is studied holistically in the unity of content (thematic and figurative layers, poetics of details, the role of intertext) and form (narrative strategies, genre constants). This determines the scientific novelty of the research. The narrative under consideration presents a special type of initiation plot, but it correlates with the traditional genre form at the level of the character system (type of hero), plot construction ("stages" of the plot development), and the poetics of motives. As a result, it is proved that the narrative under study represents such a type of initiation novel as a crisis novel. The plot–forming role in it is played by overcoming a critical event in the life of the actors - the death of a loved one and the associated guilt, as well as the protagonists' awareness of their own identity. The initiation of the main characters of the novel can be called sequential and parallel (gradual and simultaneous passing of tests), and successfully passed (acceptance of the surrounding world).

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About this article

Publication history

• Received: July 15, 2024.
• Published: August 19, 2024.

Keywords

• роман инициации
• роман-кризис
• Дж. Грин
• поэтика произведения
• the novel of initiation
• the novel of crisis
• J. Green
• the poetics of the work

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