Genre-Narrative Structure, Function of Duality as a Way of Modeling
of the Author’s Personality
In this article the short story of A. P. Platonov “The Impossible” (1921) is considered as
a multidimensional wholeness, with a complex structure – at the level of genre and of narration.
We highlight biography, scientific article, elements of a philosophical essay, lyric and philosophical poem in the genre structure. In addition to a neutral background, we highlight the lyrical monologue,
scientific and publicistic discourse at the narrative level.
The genre and stylistic heterogeneity of this short story did not allow researchers to unambiguously
determine its genre dominant for a long time. It was not by chance that at first in earlier
studies “The Impossible” was classified as a publicistic genre. Only in the first volume of the
Scientific publication of Collected works this story is included in the corpus of Early Short Stories
of Platonov. In a certain perspective, this work can indeed be read as a publicistic article containing
the author’s reflection on philosophical, scientific concepts in the specific manner of
Platonov, with overstepping beyond the boundaries of one genre. The focus on the addressee,
declared at the beginning of “The Impossible”, activates its communicative function. The inclusion
of his own technical developments by Platonov in this story introduces an element of scientific
autobiography. At the same time, “The Impossible” is the life story of the “new saint”: the
embodiment of the image of the “new human”, whose life, if it did not end so suddenly, could
open the way to the Mystery of the World – the main metaphysical problem that occupied the
mind of the young Platonov. At the same time it is the lyrical narration about the “sobbing” beauty
of the world and the incredible, “impossible” love of the hero – the narrator’s alter ego to his
beloved Maria. Using the technique of duality, the author is able to express his most intimate
experiences through the image of the “other”, to expose his own soul to the reader. The unifying
layer that maintains the integrity of this story is the motive structure with such basic components
as the motives of the Mystery, the transfiguration of the world in the version of rebellion into the
universe, light, impossible, silence, music, love, death and immortality, et
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Genre-Narrative Structure, Function of Duality as a Way of Modeling
of the Author’s Personality // Сюжетология и сюжетография. 2019. № 1. Pp. 160–171. DOI: 10.25205/2410-7883-2019-1-160-171.