G.SHCHERBAKOVA'S SHORT STORY "YOU WOULDN’T EVEN DREAM OF IT" AND THE PERCEPTIONS OF FOREIGN STUDENTS OF RUSSIAN

This study explores the effectiveness of the short story “You wouldn’t even dream of it” by Galina Shcherbakova, as a linguistic and literary resource for foreign students’ academic research. The story can be analyzed through various traditional literary approaches, including thematic analysis, character studies, and artistic techniques. This story focuses on the theme of love and examines contrasting perspectives - realistic and romantic, selfish and self-sacrificing, destructive and healing - that portray love as the essence of human existence and a manifestation of socio-biological needs. Through the depiction of family relationships, including marriage and parent-child dynamics, Shcherbakova emphasizes the influence of generational traditions in female protagonists. By analyzing the character Tatyana Nikolaevna, this study suggests that a second chance at love may never come, and a woman’s happiness could be lost. The young protagonists must, therefore, overcome the inertia of family traditions to preserve their own happiness.