РЕПРЕЗЕНТАЦІЯ «ГАЛЮЦИНАТОРНОГО РЕАЛІЗМУ» В РОМАНАХ МО ЯНЯ

Abstract

In this paper, the author outlines the concept of “hallucinogenic realism”, which defines the narrative basis of Mo Yan’s (莫言) fiction. The typological features of hallucinogenic realism are outlined in the novels “Red Sorghum” (红高粱家族) and “Life and Death are Wearing Me Out” (生死疲劳). The realistic features of Mo Yan’s fiction are highlighted, comparing them to the features of realism. Emphasis is put on hyperbole, the interaction with the audience due to the visual and tactile images presented in the novels. The principles of text design are outlined and the list of poetic expressions that influence the breaking of the readers’ horizon of expectations (e.g. synesthesia images) are discussed. The spectrum of problems and themes in Mo Yan’s novel “Red Sorghum” is characterized. The examples given exploit the enhanced visual nature of Mo Yan’s fiction and its cinematographic orientation. The concept “hallucinatory realism” (A. Pecharskyi) has been proposed in literary criticism to denote the poetic specificity of Mo Yan’s fiction. However, it is not found to be an accurate and adequate translation of the original term and that the more accurate Ukrainian equivalent to the translation of the Nobel definition is the concept of “hallucinogenic realism”. At the same time, the term offered is not used in general literary theory, and its use is considered to confuse the existing terminology. Developing the discussion of the term to define the specifics of realism in Mo Yan’s novels, the concept “parabolic realism” has been proposed. It is emphasized that this concept reveals the specifics of the intentions of the narrators in Mo Yan’s fiction. On analysis it is shown that in the novel “Red Sorghum” the narrator compares the concrete facts with the general conclusions and visions, revealing the historical dynamics of changes in civilization as a parabolic process characterized by determinism, cycles of periods, recurring situations, etc. revealing the poetic specificity of metaphors in Mo Yan’s novels.