MODIFICATION OF CHRISTMAS MOTIVES IN O. HENRY'S NOVELS

Abstract

Christmas motifs are analyzed in the article. A. Henry combined the romanticism of the past, the naturalism of the everyday and the irony of his contemporary reality in his works. The writer's appeal to the Christmas fairy tale genre is connected with the neo-romantic component in O. Henry's stories, as well as with his special worldview. In his Christmas short stories, the writer preserved genre canons that begin in folklore tales and medieval mysteries. A specific chronotope, narrative narrative style, as well as a traditional system of heroes, composition, plot are characteristic of Christmas literary traditions. The idea of a wonderful reincarnation of the world or a single character who passed through all the layers of space, symbolizing the structure of the universe, was constant in the Christmas works of the American writer. Trials ended happily, because the holiday of Christmas brings hope for revival, for the appearance of a miracle of salvation and renewal. The writer created his own Christmas story within the aesthetic program and general artistic principles he professed. O. Henry did not combine the stories related to Christmas Eve and Christmas into a separate cycle, but inserted separate works into almost all collections of short stories: The Gift of the Magi from the collection The Four Million; Whistling Dick's Chistmas Stocking) from the collection Roads of Destiny; Chistmas by injunction from the collection Heart of the West; A chaparral Chistmas Gift from the collection Whirligigs; The Day We Celebrate from Sixes and Sevens. Each writer's collection had a certain thematic direction, a circle of heroes, an emphasis on a certain author's emotionality and artistic idea. The author's advice on creating a festive atmosphere, reminders of the needy and the destitute, the need for mercy and love are common to all Christmas stories. O. Henry preserved the main principles of the literary Christmas story: dedicating the action to Christmas; moral lesson, or saving meaning; a wonderful event (unexpected help, release from trouble, spiritual and moral transformation of a person, salvation of the soul, etc.); sudden narrative moves and subordination of plot logic to overcoming injustice. At the same time, the master of the short story transformed the traditional genre, adding irony, paradox, linguistic stylistic techniques and figures to the Christmas plot.