Szerencsegyökér. Berniczky Éva novellájának retorikai elemzése

Abstract

The short story Root of Fortune is the title piece of the latest collection of short stories by the young Transcarpathian author Éva Berniczky. Its analysis follows the system and terminology of rhetoric. The first step is an examination of the rhetorical situation, i.e., the problem to be solved, followed by an identification of the type of the short story: the symbolic-balladic short story, which fits into the modern short story genre. Then the complex structure of the short story, with its parallel and internal narrative (the internal narrative also has a parallel structure), is explored. Its argumentation is based on contrasts and contradictions throughout and is therefore fascinating; it also has the logic of Aristotelian enthymemes. The style is distinctive: there is no dialogue, but the characters are also characterised by their dependent speech. Its style is characterised by allusion and symbolism – the title itself is a symbol – and its metaphors and complex images are distinctive, and their unravelling reveals a number of connections. The background of the short story also reveals a sad and tragic human fate.