Elements of Absurd in the Story The Old Woman by D. Kharms

Abstract

One of the literary styles that was influenced by the political events of twentieth century Europe is the literature of the absurd. This literary trend affected Europe and Russia. This article is devoted to the consideration of the elements of absurdity in the work The Old Woman by D. Kharms. To achieve the goal in the course of the study, we used such methods as the study of the necessary reliable and main sources of information about the literature of the absurd, the comparison and analysis of the information received about the research topic, the detection and classification of common elements of the absurd, including content and structural elements, and the consideration of these elements in the story The Old Woman. The author raises the question of what elements of absurdity are found in the work under consideration. We make a conclusion that most of the common elements of absurdity, all common content elements such as the aimlessness of man and life, pessimism, hopelessness, helplessness, the absence of a border between reality and fantasy, failure, self-talk are found in the story of The Old Woman by D. Kharms. Among the common structural elements of the absurd in this story are the lack of logic in events, an unclear and unsuccessful or unexpected denouement, and the absence of a causal connection between episodes. Based on the data obtained in the course of the study, it can be concluded that the story The Old Woman by Kharms can be confidently attributed to works of literature of the absurd.

Keywords

• literature of the absurd
• elements of the absurd
• d. kharms
• story the old woman