Натуралістична символіка в американському романі кінця ХІХ – початку ХХ століття

Abstract

The article deals with the study of naturalistic symbols in the fiction of the United States of America of the late 19th–early 20thcenturies. The aim of the research is to analyze functional assignment of the symbolic images in Frank Norris’s novels «The Octopus»and «McTeague», Theodore Dreiser’s «Sister Carrie», and Stephen Crane’s «The Red Badge of Courage». Naturalistic «matter-of-factness»of the styles of the narratives under study is combined with poetic «height»ofromanticism and symbolism, thus, details, things and facts of reality get the status of Dingesymbols. The role of such symbols as «octopus», «gold», «rocking-chair»and «red badge»in the corresponding works of the American authors has been analyzed in the article. The American literary naturalism has been proved to carry its national and author’s individual peculiarities connected with its close links with romanticism and peculiar concept of a man doomed to resist overmastering influence of determinism. The article is of interest to those dealing with literary studies, literary criticism and text analysis.