ABOUT TWO-DIMENSIONALITY OF MEANING IN A LITERARY WORK (based on the short story “Kamarg” by I. A. Bunin)

Abstract

In this article the dialogicity of literary meaning is examined. The author of the article reveals and describes two “dimensions” of literary meaning. The first dimension of meaning is formed by vital activity of characters. This is the inner dimension of artistic meaning in the literary work. The second dimension of meaning is formed by esthetic activity of the author and readers. It can be defined as the outer dimension of literary meaning. The forming of the esthetic sphere of meaning is the incarnation of it. Outsideness of the author (M. Bakhtin) is necessary for the incarnation of literary meaning. Characters correlate each detail with the situation context. The author and the reader correlate every image to sense of the whole. The short story “Kamarg” by Ivan Bunin is examined to demonstrate the semantic twodimensionality of any literary work. The positions of the main character, the other characters and the narrator are described especially in detail. In the conclusion of this article the list of semantic oppositions from Bunin’s story is presented.