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Abstract:

The intertextual aspects of the collection of short stories “Dark Alleys” have begun to interest Bunin scholars only in recent years. The quotations and reminiscences found in the “love narratives” of this short story cycle can be interpreted, first and foremost, as allusions to the works of the Russian classics (Gogolian, Turgenevian and Chekhovian subtexts). Our analysis of the thematic, structural, figurative and genre features of the stories of “Dark Alleys” focuses on a range of issues related to the three “organic principles”, as Bunin called them — love, death and nature. The characters of these late “miniatures”, like the hero of Dante’s “Divine Comedy” guided by Virgil, descend into the hell of passions and visit its dark corners. The feminine principle leads them along, yet the boundaries of their earthly existence do not allow them to experience the cosmic perfection of this principle. Being in all its fullness and beauty is revealed to them only for a moment, which Bunin’s heroes retain in the depths of their souls. They remember until the end of their lives the minute when they irretrievably squandered “the dearest and sweetest to the heart”.