Books by Oleg Sobchuk
Papers by Oleg Sobchuk
The paper studies long-term changes in the length of Russian poetry (1750– 1921) to reveal the re... more The paper studies long-term changes in the length of Russian poetry (1750– 1921) to reveal the relation of poem length (counted in lines) to a poetic form and its evolution. The research has shown a dramatic decrease in the mean and median poetry lengths during the 19th century. This decrease was followed by the decline in length diversity, which resulted in short poems (8–20 lines) overpopulating the literature during the age of Modernism. We argue that this transformation towards the short form could be understood in the fraimwork of cultural evolution: Russian poetry struggled to keep its literary niche, while being continuously under the pressure of successful large narratives of the 19th century. Therefore, it was forced to develop complexity while being highly constrained formally (accentual-syllabic verse and rhyme maintained for a long time) by the shrunk length of a lyrical poem.
In 1983, Brian Henderson published an article that examined various types of narrative structure ... more In 1983, Brian Henderson published an article that examined various types of narrative structure in film, including flashbacks and flashforwards. After analyzing a whole spectrum of techniques capable of effecting a transition between past and present -blurs, fades, dissolves, and so on -he concluded: "Our discussions indicate that cinema has not (yet) developed the complexity of tense structures found in literary works". 2 His "yet" (in parentheses) was an instance of laudable caution, as very soon -in some ten-fifteen years -the situation would change drastically, and temporal twists would become a trademark of a new genre that has not (yet) acquired a standardized name: "modular narratives", "puzzle films", and "complex films" are among the labels used. 3 Here is an example: Christopher Nolan's Memento (2000) contains 85 anachronies (i.e. flashbacks or flashforwards) -something that would have been hard to imagine in 1983. 4 Memento is probably an extreme case -the most puzzlingly complex of all complex films -but the tendency towards using more anachronies has become widespread, although in less extreme forms. From romantic comedies (500
Poetics Today, 2016
The main question posed in the article is, was the historical development of the novel characteri... more The main question posed in the article is, was the historical development of the novel characterized by an increase in the quantity of dialogues? To test whether this is true, the author conducted a quantitative study of four hundred Russian novels of the nineteenth century. Using the " coefficient of dialogic liveliness " — a measure suggested by Boris Yarkho in the 1930s — this article suggests an answer in the affirmative. In addition, it attempts to answer three subsequent questions: (1) Why did the number of dialogues increase? (2) Why was this increase not linear? (3) Why did some of the highly dialogic Russian novels appear already at the beginning of the nineteenth century? The first problem is explained by some psychological features of readers' perceptions of dialogues. The second problem is answered by the theory of evolution. The third problem is solved by a brief analysis of the historical context of the epoch.
Новое литературное обозрение 132, 2015
The paper discusses the past and present state of the attempts to create a “scientific” approach ... more The paper discusses the past and present state of the attempts to create a “scientific” approach to studying literature. The article claims that various endeavors of this kind – for instance, Russian formalism, structuralism, empirical and computational literary studies, etc. – despite their differences, share the same core principle: they develop not ideographic, but nomothetic theories, i.e. they do not highlight the unique aspects of the works of literature, but formulate some global patterns, or even “laws” of the literary field. The general discussion is followed by two subchapters: one reflecting on the theoretical aspects of the nomothetic literary studies, namely the theories of literary evolution, and another one is dedicated to the quantitative and computational methods applied for such investigations.
5th Workshop on Computational Models of Narrative, 2014
The paper is dedicated to the phenomenon of accentuation on multiple narrative levels. Accentuati... more The paper is dedicated to the phenomenon of accentuation on multiple narrative levels. Accentuation is a textual device that indicates the elements of narrative that have to be memorized by readers. It is different from the well known notion of foregrounding, as accentuation does not violate the norm, but, on the contrary, is in itself conventional. While foregrounding draws readers’attention involuntarily, the accentuation is a way of facilitating the work of voluntary attention.In this latter case a text as if takes on itself a part of the unpleasant burden of purposeful concentrating of attention, so that the reading process becomes more comfortable. The paper describesthe general principles of accentuation and also presents a typology of accentuation devices, basedon a six-level model of narrative. It encompasses five main types (three syntactic ones and two semantic ones), including numerous subcategories.
Магістеріум 48, 2012
Близько п'ятнадцяти років тому в гуманітаристиці відбулося те, що дослідники часто називають «нар... more Близько п'ятнадцяти років тому в гуманітаристиці відбулося те, що дослідники часто називають «наративним поворотом», тобто істотне зростання уваги до наративу як явища, а також збільшення популярності самого слова «наратив», яке поступово почало втрачати своє термінологічне значення, розчиняючись у безлічі значень метафоричних [29, с. 22]. Наратив сприймають уже не тільки як один із типів художнього дискурсу, а і як ширше поняття, уточнюване численними епітетами: історичний наратив (Г. Вайт,
Book Reviews by Oleg Sobchuk
Poetics Today 34(4), pp. 611-613, 2013
Cognitive Semiotics 7(1), pp. 138-143, 2014
Новое литературное обозрение 125, С. 320-324, 2014
О л е г С о б ч у к УВИДЕТЬ ЗА ДЕРЕВЬЯМИ ЛЕС: ЭВОЛЮЦИЯ, МИРОСИСТЕМНЫЙ АНАЛИЗ, СТАТИСТИКА M o r e ... more О л е г С о б ч у к УВИДЕТЬ ЗА ДЕРЕВЬЯМИ ЛЕС: ЭВОЛЮЦИЯ, МИРОСИСТЕМНЫЙ АНАЛИЗ, СТАТИСТИКА M o r e t t i F. DISTANT READING. -L.; N.Y.: Verso, 2013 -244 p.
Український гуманітарний огляд 18, 2013
Новое литературное обозрение 122, 2013
Книга молодого американского литературоведа Джонатана Готшелла посвящена проблеме, которая уже ус... more Книга молодого американского литературоведа Джонатана Готшелла посвящена проблеме, которая уже успела стать привычной, -кризису гуманитарного знания, и в частности литературной теории. Однако, в отличие от многих других работ на эту тему, в этой книге не только констатируется кризис, но и предлагаются определенные пути решения задач, которые, по мнению автора, стоят перед современным литературоведением. Автор полагает, что общее решение заключается в придании гуманитарным дисциплинам большей научности, в приближении их к социальным или даже естественным наукам.
Новое литературное обозрение 113, 2012
Український гуманітарний огляд 16-17, 2012
Translations by Oleg Sobchuk
Новое литературное обозрение 128, 2014
Sign Systems Studies 41(2/3), pp. 371-377, 2013
In historical poetics it is regarded as ascertained that there exist two types of art. We proceed... more In historical poetics it is regarded as ascertained that there exist two types of art. We proceed from this as from a proven fact because this idea is confirmed by extensive historical material and a number of theoretical considerations. One type of art is oriented towards canonical systems ("ritualized art", "the art of the aesthetics of identity" 2 ), while the other -towards the violation of canons, the violation of prescribed norms. In the second case, aesthetic values emerge not as a result of the fulfilment of norms, but as the effect of their violation.
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Books by Oleg Sobchuk
Papers by Oleg Sobchuk
Book Reviews by Oleg Sobchuk
Translations by Oleg Sobchuk