Concept of the human in Katherine Mansfield’s stories

The article deals with the creativity of Katherine Mansfield, the artistic reflection of the fate of the generation born in the late 19th - early 20th centuries in her short stories. Under the general complication of the identity problem in the English literature at the turn of the centuries the crosscutting theme of loneliness and alienation of the human can be traced in Mansfield’s works. The study reveals the writer’s predilection for simple, natural characters with tremendous and rich inner world. The authors believe that Mansfield’s contribution to the English literature is her depiction of a specific English trait that E. Forster defines as “undeveloped heart”. The analysis of the techniques and principles of personification in the Mansfield’s stories have shown the succession of Chekhov’s traditions. The interpretation of the category of happiness and the negation of the selfish, utilitarian concept of happiness acquire a special artistic meaning in her stories.