The function of literary space elements in representing the grotesque characters and unifying the short story cycle in Sherwood Anderson’s “Winesburg, Ohio”
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33910/2686-830X-2026-8-2-67-77Schlagwörter:
Sherwood Anderson, “Winesburg, Ohio”, short story cycle, cycle formation, grotesque character, descriptive detail, space symbolAbstract
The paper focuses on the function of literary space elements in “Winesburg, Ohio”, Sherwood Anderson’s short story cycle (1919). The relevance of the research is justified by considerable emphasis within modern genre studies on the techniques that integrate autonomous units into a unified work of fiction — a composed cycle. The paper aims at identifying the techniques of cycle formation peculiar to the writer’s idiolect and distinctive linguo-stylistic devices in this innovative work that does not rely on plot, yet builds a coherent world. The study reveals that the “ ‘closed’ locus” (Lotman) of the provincial town, with its name in the title stressing its prominence as the centre of narrative space, and its elements (room, wall, door, window), while they inherently picture the physical world, serve more than background. The analysis shows how these descriptive details help to expose similar traits of “small people” in a midwestern , grotesques town — their deformed souls and fears at the beginning of the industrial age in the USA, and unify short stories within the cycle into a coherent whole. Thanks to their recurrent use, these details turn into space symbols of the grotesques’ alienation and inability to escape dreary existence. Visual imagery (grey, pitch-dark, dark, darkness, night) intensifies the overall gloomy atmosphere of the backwater town. Thus, the analysis performed demonstrates that consistent literary space elements shape the writer’s individual style, contribute to the grotesque characters’ portrayal, and intertwine the stories within the composed cycle revealing their cycle-forming potential.
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