The image of home and the motif of homelessness in the works of W. Borchert

The aim of the study is to identify the specifics of the image of home and the motif of homelessness, as well as the expressive means of their realization in short stories by the well-known German writer Wolfgang Borchert (1921-1947). The scientific novelty of the work lies in the fact that, for the first time in Russian literary studies, the work of the German writer is examined in the context of the opposition "home/homelessness", which may help further exploration of his creative heritage. The results obtained showed that the image of home is associated with emptiness, loss, death, cold, and loneliness. Even when a home is present, it is mainly a transit point for the main characters, who feel their emotional and spiritual homelessness. The main functions of the topos of home are related to revealing the image of the hero, identifying his utopian model of the world, a sacred place, naming, which contributes to the realization of the motif of homelessness, correlating with the tragic motifs of loneliness and wandering. The leading expressive means in the stories of the German writer are repetition, symbol-details, techniques of parcellation and depersonalization, personification, inner speech, subtext, coloristics, and sound writing.