The Phenomenon of Romanization in Jhumpa Lahiri’s Collection of Short Stories «Unaccustomed Earth»

Dzhalilova Leila Rakhman Kyzy Postgraduate student, Department of Foreign Literature, N.I. Lobachevsky National Research Nizhny Novgorod State University 603000, Russia, Nizhny Novgorod region, Nizhny Novgorod, Bolshaya Pokrovskaya str., 37 prostoleyla20@mail.ru

Jhumpa Lahiri, an American writer who grew up surrounded by the traditions of the Indian diaspora, refers to multicultural literature, which left an imprint on her work, which reflected the problem of novelization of genres. This is most noticeable in the second part of the collection of short stories "On a new Earth" ("Unaccustomed Earth", 2008), entitled "Hema and Kaushik".

The named concept, put forward by M. M. Bakhtin in the work "Epic and Novel", caused a discussion in Russian literary criticism. Researchers have expressed various opinions about the relationship of the novel form with other genres, primarily with small prose genres (short story, novella).

On the one hand, A.V. Kubasov comes close to understanding the essence of Romanization by comparing the opinions of supporters (A. N. Veselovsky) and critics of this concept (L. V. Chernets). From the scientist's point of view, "... the novelization of genres is not static, but procedural, it develops together with all literature and the genre of the novel" ^{[2, p. 6]}. This position can be illustrated, for example, by the "novelistic" novella, which is studied by E. M. Meletinsky in the context of the impact of the novel of Modern Times on the narrative structure of the novella ^[7].

At the same time, A.V. Kubasov, based on the ideas of M. M. Bakhtin, notes that "the novel and romanization are considered in the same coordinates, with the help of identical genre carriers. The peculiarities of romanized genres are thus clarified through the novel, and it, in turn, is compared with the epic (as meta-genres)" ^{[2, p. 10]}. In this case, it is important to note that the role of carriers of the genre is played by subjective and spatio–temporal organizations, associative background, as well as intonation–speech organization, highlighted by N. L. Leiderman ^[4], which in this case acquire novelistic features in the romanized genre.

On the other hand, the modern researcher L. V. Lyapaeva similarly emphasizes the lack of a unified approach to understanding this problem. She sees romanization, along with A.V. Kubasov, as an expression of the phenomenon of differentiation and integration of genres, which together "... modify the structure of the genre, significantly enrich and enhance its capabilities" ^{[6, p. 181]}. In this situation, romanization leads to the mobility of genre boundaries, which can serve as a prerequisite for the emergence of new genre modifications.

The tendency towards the romanization of genres was embodied in the literary process of the turn of the XIX–XX centuries, which is mainly due to the predominance of the novel form in the genre system of realism. Thus, the article "Categories of poetics in the change of literary epochs" says that for this period of individual creative artistic consciousness it is characteristic that "the novel itself is understood not so much as a carrier of certain genre features, but as the most universal poetic word. <...> On the other hand, there is a gradual romanization of various genres, of any narrative, so that even a short story can become a carrier of an unusually weighty, own "novel" content (Chekhov)" ^{[1, p. 37]}. Therefore, it can be concluded that romanization is a genre process in which the novel has an impact on other genre forms. At the level of the genre structure, romanization is expressed in the transformation of the carriers of the novelized genre (for example, a short story), which obey the properties of the novel reproduction of the world.

In the work of English-speaking multicultural and postcolonial writers, the novel occupies a central place, acquiring new artistic qualities. Thus, S. P. Tolkachev expresses the opinion that "the nature of the multicultural novel, hidden in the deep archetypal models of the text, reflects the ways in which newly formed nations communicate. One of the main features of such a text is its heteroglossal nature" ^{[8, p. 122]}. This allows us to make the assumption that the principles of novel reproduction of reality, satisfying the creative aspirations of these writers, lay the foundation for the emergence of novelized genres. To confirm this hypothesis, let's turn to three stories ("Once in a Lifetime", "The End of the Old Year", "Mooring to the shore") as part of the second part of the collection of modern writer Jumpa Lahiri, which we mentioned at the beginning of the article.

In her artistic practice, the genre of the novel and the short story are interconnected by a common plot plan. As an example, the writer's debut novel "The Namesake" (2003), the main characters of which are Indian immigrants adapting to the traditions of American culture, can be cited. And many of the stories from the collection we are considering continue to develop the theme of depicting the conditions of everyday life of the Indian diaspora, whose representatives face the difficulties of living in another country.

In the genre aspect, the collection "On a New Earth" includes works that in English-language criticism correspond to the form of a short story. In this genre, researchers identify some plot features in addition to the small volume. So, one of the dictionary definitions of the genre says the following: "A good storyteller knows that he must focus on a relatively easily observable case or event, quickly, i.e. immediately, explain all his motives and give appropriate permission (end). The concentration of attention, the center of tension put forward and the connectedness of motives by this center are the distinctive features of the story" ^[5]. In other words, the plot range of this genre is usually limited to the depiction of some vivid episode or circumstance that happened to the main character. However, there are examples that demonstrate the opposite situation. For example, the stories of A. Chekhov, which are often devoid of spatial and temporal diversity, which was shown by A.V. Kubasov in his work "The Stories of A. P. Chekhov: the poetics of the genre" (1990).

It is important to note that the writer began her literary career with a small form. For her collection The Interpreter of Maladies (1999), she was awarded the O. Henry Award for the best short Story.  In addition, J. Lahiri, in an interview, cited a number of her selected writers in this genre. Among them are William Trevor, Flannery O'Connor, and J. Joyce, A. P. Chekhov, J. Cheever, and others ^[11]. As you can see, these names represent different literary traditions (Irish, American, Russian), each of which has its own national versions of the short story.

The process of romanization in the second part of the collection, first of all, should begin with an analysis of the composition. Three stories, united by a common subtitle "Hema and Kaushik", form a triptych. This allows us to say that they merge into a single narrative. At the same time, they are united by the space–time background, the presence of several plot lines of the main characters Hema and Kaushik. Therefore, the first sign of romanization should be called the expansion of the narrative framework. Due to this, each of the stories, being a separate fragment of reality, together form a complete picture of the world.

Foreign critics have also expressed opinions about the compositional features of this part of the work. So, Indian researcher Antara Chatterjee also believes that "... the last section "Hema and Kaushik", shows an innovative experiment, namely the three inter-related stories about the same characters at different stages of their lives, told from different perspectives. Lahiri here seems to be experimenting formally with the short story and testing and pushing the boundaries of the genre" ^{[10, p. 108]} / "...the last section of "Hema and Kaushik" shows an innovative experiment, namely three interconnected stories about the same characters at different stages of their lives, expressed from different points of view. Lahiri here seems to be formally experimenting with a short story, testing and pushing the boundaries of the genre" (translated by the author of the article — L.D.).

Of particular interest is the subjective organization of the three stories. The subjects of the narrative are the children of Indian migrants, Hema and Kaushik. Each of them is both a narrator and an actor who not only recounts the most memorable episodes from his past life, but also organizes the text. The personal form of narration in the first two stories, expressed in the form of reflection, allows us to focus on the inner life of the characters. So, Hema, in the story "Once in a Lifetime" ("Once in a Lifetime"), recalls an episode of acquaintance with Kaushik, whose parents had to live in her family before buying their own house.

In the second story, "The End of the Old Year" ("Year's End"), Kaushik tells about the marriage of his widowed father, as well as about his traumatic memories associated with the death of his mother. The plot connection between the narratives of the characters is revealed due to the fact that Hema herself refers to Kaushik in her memoirs: "I had seen you before, too many times to count, but a farewell that my family threw for yours, at our house in Inman Square, is when I begin to recall your presence in my life" ^[12] / "And I've met you before, probably fifty times, maybe even a hundred, but–strange! – I've never noticed. For the first time, I realized that you exist on the dump, which my parents arranged for you at our house in Inmen Square" ^{[3, p. 293]}. Thus, dialogical relations are established between the characters, which will be explicitly expressed in the third story.

In this story "Mooring Ashore" ("Going Ashore"), the objective point of view of the author prevails, who covers the events from his position. Such a change in the form of narration, the transition from monologue to dialogical speech between the author and the characters is justified, in our opinion, by the fact that it allows us to combine two equal plot lines of two heroes. Now a lecturer at Hema University and a photojournalist Kaushik, having reached conscious maturity and a certain professional growth, meet in Italy, where they are given the opportunity to spend time with each other and re-evaluate the past. Here is the following quote: «He looked the same to her, that was the astonishing thing. The sharp–faced boy who had stepped reluctantly into her parents' home" ^[12] / "And it seemed to her that he had not changed at all, remained the same harsh teenager with high cheekbones and yearning eyes, who so reluctantly crossed the threshold of their house" ^{[3, p. 403]}.

In terms of the organization of time and space, current events in these stories have a chronological relationship. So, in the first story, the background of the acquaintance of the girl Hema with Kaushik is given, who shares with her the experience of his mother's terminal illness. "The End of the Old Year" depicts an already grown-up Kaushik, who graduated from college, who is on the threshold of a new life stage.

The scene is also changing extensively. The characters discover new spaces for themselves. So, for example, if in the first story the storytelling event was timed to the state of Massachusetts, as well as to India, then in the final part the characters overcome geographical boundaries, meeting each other in Italy, perceiving the European lifestyle and culture.

Obviously, the titles of the stories also indicate spatial and temporal shifts in the narrative. In particular, "Once in a Lifetime" and "The End of the Old Year" take the form of flashbacks, which describe a unique single event that influenced the lives of the characters.

 "The end of the old Year" emphasizes the end of one period and the beginning of the next, which is marked by the new marriage of Kaushik's father. Finally, the third story "Mooring to the Shore" vividly depicts how the main characters, connected by a common past, differ from each other by their own current life experiences and aspirations. The opposing views of Hema and Kaushik, primarily on planning their future fate and the inability to come to a single compromise, lead them to break up. Thus, the author notes the following: "...It began to seem to Hema that she understood Kaushik better — his ability to establish instant contact with strangers, but his inability to maintain long-term relationships, his obsessive need from time to time to completely change the reality around him..." ^{[3, p. 409]}.

It should also be said that this story, unlike the previous two, is arranged differently in terms of composition. On the one hand, the narrative is complicated by plot twists. This is manifested, in particular, in the reception of counterpoint, which is typical, as a rule, for the novel form. It is expressed in a combination of two integral storylines of each of the characters. Thus, the author provides information about each of them, concerning their formation in the professional sphere.

Special attention should be paid to the final episode of the story. In it, Hema reports on the tragic death of Kaushik at the resort. In this regard, the finale becomes not novelistic, but novelistic. Here are the words of B. M. Eichenbaum from his article "O. Henry and the Theory of the short story", which makes a clear distinction between the genre properties of the short story in the American tradition and the novel. It is stated here that "... the novella tends precisely to the maximum surprise of the finale, concentrating all the previous around itself. In a novel, after the climax, there should be one or the other slope, whereas for a novel it is most natural to climb to the top and stop at it" ^{[9, pp. 171-172]}.

In this case, we see that the genre of the short story in J. Lahiri, in addition to novelistic features, contains novelistic features that refer to the tradition of the American short story. It should be emphasized that, in contrast to the domestic trend, where a short story and a short story are considered as separate varieties of a small form, in foreign literary studies, mainly in the American and English traditions, the differences between them are smoothed out. Therefore, from our point of view, it is quite acceptable in terms of genre to define the works from this collection as short stories, which was noted by the translator Antonina Gall and short stories.

Thus, summing up the general results of our analysis, we can note the following signs of romanization of these stories:

— at the compositional level: the expansion of the external plot framework of the narrative due to the structure of the triptych, the development of several storylines (counterpoint technique), the complication of the external action by plot twists;

— at the level of the subject organization: the presence of the points of view of the author and the characters, simultaneously acting as narrators and actors in a dialogical relationship;

— at the spatiotemporal level: an extensive expansion of space and time, correlated with the transition of the characters from childhood and youth memories to maturity.

In conclusion, it is worth emphasizing once again that in addition to the romanized elements in these stories, combined under one heading and functioning as a single narrative, elements of the small form of a short story (novella) still play a dominant role. This is expressed in the identification of several central narrator characters, in the minds of each of whom the most vivid event from their private past (the first two stories), as well as a spectacular short story finale (the third story), is reflected.