Поэтика комического в рассказах Виктора Морта

Poetics of the Comical in the Short Stories of Victor Mort This article continues the study of Victor Mort’s creative work by examining the poetics of the comical in his short stories, building on previous analysis of the poetics of chance in his novel Grimaces of Life. Adopting a qualitative methodology that combines close reading and discourse analysis, the study investigates selected short stories from Grimaces of Life to identify key comic techniques such as macaronic speech, speaking names, literalization of metaphor, zeugma, and the integration of anecdotes into character monologues. Particular emphasis is placed on narrative strategies like skaz narration, which situates the storyteller within the social and cultural milieu of émigré characters. The analysis demonstrates that while Mort employs traditional comic devices, he innovatively adapts them to explore the contradictions and psychological trauma experienced by Soviet emigrants adjusting to American life. The study argues that Mort’s humor moves dramatism to the margins, creating an original, empathetic, and nuanced portrait of the “new emigrant,” a former Soviet commoner thrust by war into an alien civilization and striving to integrate without losing his identity. This approach highlights Mort’s distinctive contribution as one of the few second-wave émigré writers to develop a complex comic vision rooted in cultural negotiation and adaptation.