Sensory images attributes of body modeling in Wolfgang Borhert’s «Prison prose»

Abstract

The article contains an analysis of the functioning of sensory images in the “prison prose” of Wolfgang Borchert, a representative of the literature of postwar Germany, a member of the group “47”. Using an expressionist palette, the artist sought not only to comprehend spiritual existentials, but also to create a relief sensory world in which those who found themselves “in ruins” were forced to be. The author emphasizes that the studied images are an important component of the psychopoetics of the work and are marked by a high level of emotional resonance. Appealing to works devoted to the study of artistic corporeality, it is noted that ignoring this ontological category causes the leveling of a number of semantic levels, which, according to H. U. Humbrecht, form a symbiosis of meaning and presence as a perception of the subject environment. The researched texts, in particular the short stories “Dandelion Flower”, “Sunday Morning”, “There and Here”, illustrate the functionality of tactile, visual, sound, olfactory images, with which the author models the semantic model of the artistic world of works and reveals the character structure of characters. Sensory images in the article are interpreted as those that are outlined by subjectivity, reveal the comprehension of certain characteristics of the environment, are able to intensify the development of action, to condense attention on the psychological dominants of the character, on the plot-forming moments. It has been found that sensory concepts are subjective, so they can be interpreted quite freely. In an artistic text, the information accumulated by certain receptors or sense organs is realized, acquiring additional meanings. Poetics of “prison stories” V. Borcherta focuses on the translation of the experience of a person who is “on the verge” and experiencing a deep personal crisis.