Semiosis of textual categories of time and space in short fiction by Breece D’J Pancake

Tetiana Starostenko; Olena Shcherbakova; Alona Shevchenko; Olena Yehorova; Svitlana Nikiforchuk

doi:10.34069/AI/2023.62.02.5

Tetiana Starostenko H.S. Skovoroda Kharkiv National Pedagogical University, Ukraine. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2343-105X
Olena Shcherbakova V.O. Sukhomlynsky National University, Ukraine. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9880-8865
Alona Shevchenko H.S. Skovoroda Kharkiv National Pedagogical University, Ukraine. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9953-1906
Olena Yehorova H.S. Skovoroda Kharkiv National Pedagogical University, Ukraine. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9103-5118
Svitlana Nikiforchuk V.O. Sukhomlynsky National University, Ukraine. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9337-1983

DOI: https://doi.org/10.34069/AI/2023.62.02.5

Keywords: Biblical symbolism, closed reality, explicit seasonality, means of escapism, textual categories.

Abstract

The article explores the semiosis of textual categories of time and space in short fiction by Breece D’J Pancake. The methodology of the research is based on the works by M. Bakhtin, Yu. Lotman, G. Genett, P. Ricoeur and U. Eco. It has been proved that the stories by Pancake replicate several Biblical plots: the creation of the world and the origional sin (“Trilobites”), a prodigal son (“Time and Again”), the whore of Babylon / Mary Magdalene (“A Room Forever”) and the apocalyptical mark of the beast (“The Mark”). The time is static and is marked by seasonality. The space is segregated into macro-outer world and the inner space of the towns, engulfing people’s destinies and predetermining their down-to-earth existence. The semantic system is represented by the cross-cultural concepts: the light as a sign of hope; a room as an embodiment of a shelter; the hollowness of the night, growing into the hollowness of life; a rabbit embryo, symbolizing the mark of the beast; a snake, serving as a symbol of seduction; a train or a bus as the means of escapism. Three rounds of coffee in “Trilobite” replicate three circles of Hell in “The Divine Comedy” by Dante.

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Author Biographies

Tetiana Starostenko, H.S. Skovoroda Kharkiv National Pedagogical University, Ukraine.

PhD in Philology, Associate Professor, Associate Professor of the Department of English Philology, H.S. Skovoroda Kharkiv National Pedagogical University, Ukraine.

Olena Shcherbakova, V.O. Sukhomlynsky National University, Ukraine.

Ph.D. in Education, Assistant Professor, Assistant Professor of the Department of Germanic Philology, V.O. Sukhomlynsky National University, Ukraine.

Alona Shevchenko, H.S. Skovoroda Kharkiv National Pedagogical University, Ukraine.

PhD in Philology, Associate Professor, Associate Professor of the Department of Practice of Oral and Written English, H.S. Skovoroda Kharkiv National Pedagogical University, Ukraine.

Olena Yehorova, H.S. Skovoroda Kharkiv National Pedagogical University, Ukraine.

PhD in Pedagogy, Associate Professor, Associate Professor of the Department of Practice of Oral and Written English, H.S. Skovoroda Kharkiv National Pedagogical University, Ukraine.

Svitlana Nikiforchuk, V.O. Sukhomlynsky National University, Ukraine.

Lecturer at the Department of Germanic Philology, V.O. Sukhomlynsky National University, Ukraine.

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