GENESIS OF THE 20th CENTURY BELARUSIAN NOVEL

The article explores the historical and artistic process whereby the Belarusian novel genre emerged and developed and substantiates the relevance of this prose form in the Belarusian fiction in the 20th century. The conclusion is made that the genre-based approach to analyzing the literary process is the most effective and justified way to comprehending the theory, poetics and aesthetics of the fictional discourse. Special attention is also paid to the analysis of the interaction between different prose forms, especially the interrelation between romance and novel. It is noted that studying the novel genre has long been neglected by Belarusian literary critics. Its genre definition was often much fragmented, vague and indefinite. The novel was often featured in the national literary criticism under a different name and defined as other prose genres: a story, novella or romance. An important place in the study is given to the deep theoretical analysis of In the Wilderness of Polesie by Yakub Kolas presented by M. Piotukhovich in his article, In the Wilderness of Polesie as a New Stage of Belarusian Fiction. It is noted that he assessed this novel as highly valuable for the Belarusian literature. The study also notes the intensive development of the novel in the Belarusian literature of the 1920s and exposes the productive nature of this fiction genre, and its relevant high poetic and artistic potential for the fruitful development of the Belarusian national literature.

fiction, prose, poetics, aesthetics, novel, story, romance, novella, genre, image, prose writer, chronicle

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