DOCUMENTALITY AND ARTISTRY OF “SMALL STORIES” BY V.S. BAEVSKY (BASED ON THE MATERIAL “LIFE AFTER (SMALL STORIES)”)

The article deals with the problem of the ratio of documentary and fiction in a special literary genre of non-fiction based on the work “Life after (small stories)” by the philologist V.S. Baevsky. The study of the genre of non-fiction remains relevant for literary studies, and this problem, studied on the material of V.S. Baevsky's prose, has not previously become a subject for study. Within the framework of the proposed research, it is concluded that the documentary accuracy of historical events, geographical names, and the appeal to real personalities reflected in the work do not deny the artistic authenticity of the work. At the same time, the facts of history, personal biography of the author and his relatives are organically woven into the verbal fabric of the narrative. The family is presented against the background of the most important historical events (war, evacuation, perestroika), which indicates the inextricable connection between the fate of a person and the fate of the country. This allows Baevsky, on the one hand, to analyze his life path, on the other - to show a person of a transitional era and the historical reality in which he found himself. In the work, the author actively turns to literary techniques that promote artistic expressiveness and imagery, create an artistic world of “small stories”.

Putting gender on the agenda in Rio de Janeiro

Considerable scholarly attention has been devoted to the investigation of language and gendered performances in the workplace, particularly in the Global North. However, as yet few studies have examined such dynamics in the context of contemporary social movements. Drawing on (auto)ethnographic observations and audio recordings, this article takes a critical look at the negotiation of meaning in public debates held by bicycle advocates in Rio de Janeiro. The gendered performances which arise from small stories suggest that female participants find themselves in a ‘double bind’ as they seek to raise awareness of the gendered violence they experience whilst simultaneously adhering to the discursive norms of the movement. Such performances may be understood as characteristic of a postfeminist sensibility in which everyday violence is mitigated in order to project a courageous, resilient subject undeterred by such threats.

Negotiating Identity and Power during a Crisis: An Analysis of ‘Small Stories’ Told by Australian Christian Priests during the COVID-19 Health Crisis

The COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 and localised government responses have led to fundamental changes in the conditions in which organisations operate. This article draws on a social constructionist understanding of identity as multiple and performed (Angouri 2016; Butler 1990) to explore the experiences of a group of six Australian Christian priests during this crisis period. Drawing on in-depth interview data, the article presents a narrative analysis of the storying of identities and power relations within church communities whose everyday activities were suddenly curtailed. In contrast to linguistic studies of narrative which often focus on structural features of canonical discourse ‘events’, this article takes up Bamberg and Georgakopoulou’s (2008) extension of narrative analysis to focus on ‘small stories’ which reflect the everyday, situated practices in which identities and power relations are negotiated and performed. This article contributes unique insights into the operation and practices of religious organisations in a crisis context.

Ta as an emergent language practice of audience design in CMC

This study examines the use of ungendered third person Chinese pronoun ta in digital first-and-third person voiced discourses (i.e. small stories). The study asks what implications the script choice ta, as opposed to gendered 他 ta ‘he’ and 她 ta ‘she’, has for audience design and the facilitation of character empathy. The study draws on 131 digital texts from celebrity verified accounts on social media platform Sina Weibo in October 2015. From a Discourse Analytical perspective focused on deixis relative to the notion of empathy in storytelling, the study investigates emergent practices which involve the orthographic manipulation of gender. The study proposes that ta is an interpersonal resource whose deictic properties as a non-standard spelling are exploited as a property of audience design to facilitate an appeal to empathy. This facilitation is advanced by the script choice which offers a wider scope of reference, and thus targets a wider audience.