Anton Pavlovich Chekhov January 29 1860July 15 1904 Chekhov and the Short Story Reinvented the short story opened up areas of life not yet explored by Russian literature Tolstoy compared him to the Impressionists ID: 527440
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Slide1
Intro. to ChekhovSlide2
Anton Pavlovich
Chekhov
January 29, 1860-July 15, 1904Slide3
Chekhov and the Short Story
Reinvented the short story
opened up areas of life not yet explored by Russian literature
Tolstoy compared him to the Impressionists
Considered one of the world’s great short story writersSlide4
General Principles of the Short Story
1. Compression – everything compressed into one moment. A whole life should be felt.
2. Suggestion (not explanation) – tip of the iceberg. Reader must infer.
3. Point of illumination – plot is completed, character is revealedSlide5
Chekhov’s 6 principles that make for a good story
1. Absence of lengthy verbiage of a political-social-economic nature
2. Total objectivity: Facts should speak for themselves. Let the reader judge these characters
3. Truthful descriptions of persons and objects
4. Extreme brevity
5. Audacity and originality: flee the stereotype
6. CompassionSlide6
Chekhovian Techniques
Start with a murky situation which tightens.
When you understand, you’re at the end.
Description, setting = metaphor for meaning of storySlide7Slide8
Poshlost
What Chekhov most hated was
poshlost
, which equals hypocrisy, vulgarity, banality.Slide9
Chekhovian theme
Human
connections that fail because of this…self-deception
.Slide10
“The Student”
Questions?Slide11
“The Student”
1.
What is this story about?Slide12
The Event-plot story…
Up
until Chekhov, all short stories, virtually without exception, were
event-plot
ones. In these stories the skeleton of plot is all important, the narrative is shaped, classically, to have a beginning, middle and end.
Chekhov’s revolutionary technique: he did
not
abandon
plot, but
made the
plot of his stories like the plot of our lives
: random, mysterious, run-of-the-mill, abrupt, chaotic, fiercely cruel, meaningless. Slide13
The Chekhovian story…
Chekhov = the father
of the modern short
story. His influence
is still massive and everywhere
.
What
is the essence of the Chekhovian short story? Chekhov
wrote:
"It
is time
writers, especially those who are artists,
recognised
that there is no making out anything in this world
.“
Chekhovian
point of
view: look
at life in all its banality and all its tragic comedy and refuse to make a judgment. R
efuse
to condemn and refuse to celebrate. R
ecord
the actions of human beings as they are and
leave those actions to
speak for themselves
(insofar as they can) without manipulation, censure or praise. Slide14
What is life?
His famous retort when he was asked to define life: "You ask me what is life? That is like asking: what is a carrot? A carrot is a carrot and that's all there is to it."Slide15
2.
What
is this story REALLY about?Slide16
Looking at your list of conventions for prose, what are some important conventions Chekhov uses in this story?Slide17
How is Chekhov using: setting? The minor characters? Allusions?Slide18
What is the mood Chekhov creates and how does he create it?
How would you describe the tone of the story?Slide19
Although this is not an event-plot story, does it have movement? How does it move?