Types of genre eventness in A. P. Chekhov's short stories in 1887: novella and short story ("A bad business", "The event", "The old house")

In 1887 A. P. Chekhov’s literary paradigm displayed complexity in general, while his genre preferences in the period endured great development. The object of the article is to examine the types of genre eventness in three Chekhov’s short stories: «A Bad Business», «The Event», and «The Old House». The 1st story is arranged like a horror novella. At night time a sexton meets a poor wanderer who pretending to be lost asks the sexton to lead him to the exit of the cemetory. While following his way towards the gates, the sexton gets extremely scared by the stranger who gradually intensifies his threats. Finally, the situation inverts as compared with the initial: now it is the sexton who wants to get out, however the pilgrim would not let him do so. Their sinister dialogue is interrupted by a sudden whistle, the stranger joins his partners in crime, and the sexton discovers the ransacked church. Possessing all the main features of a novella, «A Bad Business» is complicated by its psychological content. In the 2nd short story, where the very title defines certain genre expectations, the classic novella pattern is realized. In fact, the story represents a sample of a novella with its cumulative composition, plot tension and, finally, so-called point which is one of the most characteristic features of a novella. This terrifying story (yet supplied with the happy ending) is eventful indeed just like a novella should be because of its genre nature. Being neither comic, nor psychological, «The Event» represents a pure genre essence in which Chekhov tried to gain all aspects of the genre. In the 3rd story the subject matter differs from the previous two. The story, demonstrating no play of chance, but revealing social laws which lead a family to its decay, clearly represents a short story model. In the end a novella plot is introduced into the only one final sentence by mentioning a story of a poor musician’s unexpected wealth, while the basic storyline deals with social determination rather than occurrences. To sum up, the three short stories show A. P. Chekhov’s evolution in 1887. While a novella is displaced by a short story, the essence of eventness change correspondingly. An unexpected event becomes not as frequent as a trivial incident in Chekhov’s works. The types of genre eventness in A. P. Chekhov’s short stories are closely associated with two genre models: a novella and a short story proper, and a short story model becomes more productive in further A. P. Chekhov’s creation.