A Spatial Organization of the Collection Bizarre stories by Olga Tokarchuk

Abstract

The aim of the article is to analyse the spatial organization of the collection Bizarre stories by Olga Tokarchuk, to study the  influence of closed and open spaces on the formation of worldview and individual needs of the heroes of the stories. Methods. Textual, historical and literary methods were used to achieve this goal. Results. In the article, the spatial parameters of the collection Bizarre stories are analysed for the first time, which allows to learn more about the author’s style of writing, to understand her work as an integral part of modern Polish literature. Conclusions. The role of Olga Tokarchuk’s special style of writing in the creation of spatial structure in the collection Bizarre stories is determined in scientific research, the ways of constructing space in the stories Passenger, Green Children, Conservations, Visit, Mountain of All Saints, Transfugium are outlined. In the collection of short stories Bizarre stories, the author focuses on the physical and spiritual space, its effects on man. Each person has his own space through which he perceives the world. Analysing the image of space in Olga Tokarchuk’s collection Bizarre stories, we concluded that the writer focuses more on the image of human spiritual space than physical. The space in the stories is heterogeneous, presented either as a closed room, where the action takes place, or open, in a country, city, street, on the outskirts. The author creates the space that suits the individual needs of the hero, therefore everyone perceives the world in his own way. Space in the text plays the role of cognition of the world, including going beyond it, beyond comfort. One of the main features of the stories is the presence of elements of artistic geopoetics. This gives the writer the opportunity to reveal global environmental problems, to which she is not indifferent, and which take place in the modern world. As a result, the natural environment acts as a wide and open space. The space in these stories can be taken as a metaphor for the whole world – real and mythologized. The author’s idea of going beyond the real is an attempt to overcome the stereotypes of a rationalized perception of the world and human existence in it.