Space and Narrative in the Short Story by e.I. Zamyatin The Meeting

The short story The Meeting by E.I. Zamyatin has hardly been studied by researchers as an independent work. However, it is of considerable interest in the context of the reception of cinematography in the literature of the first half of the 20th century and in the literature of the Russian abroad of the first wave of emigration. At that time, the writer, like many of his contemporaries, addressed the problem of the interaction of literature and cinema, tried to unravel the phenomenon of cinematography, and also worked on scripts. In this regard, the reflection of the theme of cinema in the writer’s work is understandable. In addition, the role of space in the story remained underestimated for a long time. At the same time, the analysis of the narration in the work was covered in individual works of modern literary scholars, but the authors’ main attention was focused on the narrative techniques borrowed from cinematography and the indication of the presence of an unreliable narrator in the story. The aim of the work is to identify the features of the space and its connection with the narrative. The study is based on descriptive-functional, cultural-historical and hermeneutic-interpretative methods. The article analyzes the image of space in accordance with the established image of cinema in the Silver Age and the writer’s attitudes: attitude to cinematography, worldview, established creative principles. The role of this category in the organization of the narrative is studied, their interaction is obvious. The results of the work showed that the images and actions of the characters are consistent with the reality surrounding them. The connection between the space of the story and the features of the narrative is proven. A conclusion is made about the possible correlation of the images of cinema characteristic of the 20th century with the general ideological attitudes and creative views of Zamyatin and their reflection in the story The Meeting at different levels.