LITERARY PORTRAIT OF I. BUNIN IN THE MEMOIRS OF CONTEMPORARIES

Abstract

Aim is to analyze the literary portraits of I. Bunin created by his contemporaries and to identify the genre and style specifics of the literary memoir portrait. Methodology. The object of study in this work is the literary portraits of I. Bunin, recreated in memoirs by B. Zaitsev, G. Adamovich, and F. Stepun. Special attention was focused on defining genre-compositional and stylistic features of th e literary portrait, revealing the author’s approach to recreating a creative personality image. In the analysis of memoir texts, cultural-historical, comparative, and biographical methods were used. Results. During the analysis of literary portraits of I. Bunin, their specific typological affiliation was clarified, and its relationship with the author’s choice of genre and composition structure was proved. Research implications. The article contributes both to the understanding of the creative image of the outstanding Russian classic - I. Bunin and the development of theoretical issues related to the definition of genre belonging and stylistics of the literary portrait as an artistic phenomenon.