Genre-based means of creating psychologism in the prose of Alex Michaelides

The aim of the study is to identify the direct and indirect means of creating psychologism and their role in the prose of the contemporary British writer Alex Michaelides. The article examines such methods of creating artistic psychologism as mythological allusions, ekphrasis, paratextual insertions, psychological landscape, and psychological subtext. The scientific originality of the study lies in revealing the mechanism of genre-based means of creating psychologism in A. Michaelides’s novels “The Silent Patient”, “The Maidens”, and “The Fury”. The study found that in these novels, the author uses not only direct means of creating psychologism (internal monologues, characters’ memories), but also indirect ones (descriptions of the characters’ nature and dwellings as reflections of their inner world; depiction of facial expressions and gestures; inclusion of mythological and literary allusions as a means of characterization; paratextual insertions providing information about psychological terminology; descriptions of paintings that embody the mental processes and emotional crisis of their author). It is noteworthy that indirect means of creating psychologism predominate in A. Michaelides’s prose. Comparing the characters with heroes of myths and classical literature (Persephone, Demeter, Desdemona) allowed the author to create a typified psychological portrait of the characters.