Forms and Techniques of Psychological Representation of Characters in the Collection of Zakhar Prilepin “The Eight” (Based on the Stories “The Eight” and “Interrogation”)

Over the past two decades, Zakhar Prilepin has become one of the most prominent figures among contemporary Russian prose writers. The appeal to Zakhar Prilepin's prose as a literary and socio-cultural phenomenon is of great importance in contemporary literary criticism due to its under-exploration. The basis of Zakhar Prilepin's collection of stories “The Eight” (2013) is situations when a person finds himself alone with himself and the problems that exist in society. The main characters of Prilepin's works often feel lost in the world around them, which seems cruel and unfair to them. They experience a deep spiritual crisis, trying to find their place in a merciless and incomprehensible reality. In this article, we examined the techniques and means of psychological depiction in Zakhar Prilepin's stories “The Eight” and “Interrogation” as characteristic of the collection “The Eight” as a whole. As a result, a high percentage of the author's use of such forms of psychologism as direct (44%) and indirect (56%), and such techniques and means of psychological depiction as psychological analysis, internal monologue with elements of self-analysis, psychological portrait, “talking names”, specific techniques of psychological depiction (dreams, delirious state (semi-delusion)), psychological self-analysis (given in order of decreasing frequency of use) has been proven. The designated forms, means and techniques of psychological depiction, which are used in the stories of Zakhar Prilepin, convince us that his artistic world is characterized by a specific, but quite obvious psychologism.