IMAGOLOGY ASPECTS IN THE NOVEL BY ELIZABETH GILBERT “CITY OF GIRLS”

Abstract

The article examines the imagological aspects of a literary text in two options: literary and intercultural communication. The research material is Elizabeth Gilbert’s novel “City of Girls”. On the one hand, the study aims to identify the means of the author’s self-projection in the novel and, on the other, to explore the poetic aspects of ethnic stereotypes within the character system.The article employs theoretical and methodological approaches from literary imagology, gender criticism, narratology, and elements of poetic text analysis.The imagological plane of E. Gilbert’s novel “City of Girls” has not yet been the subject of scholarly research, despite the fact that the image of the Other in the novel is an integral part of both literary and intercultural communication, which determines the relevance of this study.The research reveals that the novel employs a representative model in which the central element is a woman who comprehends gender imperatives in her personal development. The narrative style of the novel exhibits features of an objectified exposition-story, consisting of the protagonist’s monologues and self-reflections. The predominant type of narration is ego-oriented, with blurred boundaries between monologue and dialogue and an emphasized focus on conveying information.In the context of intercultural communication, the novel represents perceptions of other nations in the form of stereotypes. The author distinctly differentiates between ethnic origins and social status, distinguishing “White Anglo-Saxon Protestants”, to whom the protagonist belongs, from recent immigrants, who constitute the majority of Vivian’s social circle in New York. The author’s vision of cultural ethnocode is embodied in the detailed characterization of literary figures, combined with authorial commentary and evaluation, which manifest in various approaches to the identification of the Other.