Морская тематика в произведениях Александра Марданя

Abstract

The literary traditions, which came into existence in the turn of the 19th and the 20th century, have found the proper continuation in Odessa literature life. Nowadays, one can hear about the Odessan atmosphere, which has continued to inspire the modern writers. Aleksander Mardan is not the native inhabitant of Odessa, nevertheless his literary work has become the part of Odessan dramaturgic tradition. The fact that proves the Odessan atmosphere influence on the author's plays and novels is the manner of speaking of some of the characters, their statements indirectly referring to the Black Sea and the author's stage direction. The text is full of characteristic Odessan aphorisms. In the characters’ language one may notice the manifestation of their Odessan sense of humour. The author shows the personality and mentality of Odessan man, or the habitant of the marine city. Both the prose and plays of Mardan contain marine subject area, which stimulates the image of the south, provincial town and southern mentality. These emphasise the particular stereotypes in characters' mentality, which reflects the cultural environment where they live. The provincial subject area in Mardan’s drama and prose seems to create the picture of ‘the little homeland’. The picture shows the association of man and society, also self-awareness formulated by the the local ethno-cultural traditions and natural-geographical environment.