A CYCLE OF SHORT STORIES ‘THE LUGGAGE’ BY S. DOVLATOV: ONTOLOGY AND POETICS OF THE THINGS

The article points out that the things in ‘The Luggage’ are multifunctional as S. Dovlatov concentrates not only on ontology of the things but also places his focus on perception and contemplation over generalizing features of the things as well as their symbolic character in a literary text. С. Довлатов. Цикл рассказов «Чемодан»: онтология и поэтика вещей 103 Things become an element of the narrative structure and make the ontological core of the ‘visible’ plots of the short stories. In parallel with that, empirical and cognitive relations between the world and the character are built on the character’s interrelation with the things. The character ironically treats the absurdity of the social and public life. Ontological poetics helps to define the way how, already being identified in the title ‘The Luggage’, the ‘initial meaning’ obtains semantic value in literary text of the short stories.