“At Home” – Anton Chekhov’s Textbook for Parents

Artur Sadecki

Abstract


In the paper one of Anton Chekhov’s works devoted to childhood, an 1887 short story At Home, falls under the scrutiny. Its action appears to be limited to a conversation between Bykovsky, the father who works as prosecutor for the circuit court, and Seryozha, the son who has been found smoking. Were it not for the main hero – the father – this short story would not have been placed as one of the exceptional pieces in Chekhov’s writings. Bykovsky comprehends the reality properly and his course of action is crowned with success, meaning the son stops smoking. His way of thinking reveals a deep understanding of children’s raising rules. Firstly, he is aware that a child has its own, separate world of thoughts and feelings. In this way, the father using his own words describes the phenomenon, which is now being investigated by the so-called Theory of Mind. Secondly, Bykovsky achieves success when he tells his son a fairy tale about the harmful effects of smoking. It apparently shows that he is conscious of the role of narration in the process of education, which is also an axiom in contemporary science. Therefore, it can be concluded that the short story At Home is a kind of an artistic “guide for parents”.

Keywords


Chekhov; children’s raising; Theory of Mind; narration

References


Baron-Cohen, S. (2009). Rozwój zdolności czytania innych umysłów: cztery etapy. V: A. Klawiter (red.), Formy aktywności umysłu. Ujęcia kognitywistyczne. Ewolucja i złożone struktury poznawcze (T. 2; s. 145–171). Warszawa: PWN.

Bruner, J. (2010). Kultura edukacji. Kraków: TAiWPN Universitas.

Byalyy, G. (1981). Chekhov i russkiy realizm, Leningrad: Sov. pisatel’.

Chekhov, A.P. (1974–1982). Doma. V: idem, Polnoye sobraniye sochineniy i pisem v 30-ti tomakh. Sochineniya v 18-ti tomakh (T. 6; s. 97–106). Moskva: Nauka.

Chekhov, A.P. (1974–1983a). Pis’mo Rossolimo G. I., 21 yanvarya 1900 g. V: idem, Polnoye sobraniye sochineniy i pisem v 30-ti tomakh. Pis’ma v 12-ti tomakh (T. 9; s. 19–20). Moskva: Nauka.

Chekhov, A.P. (1974–1983b). Polnoye sobraniye sochineniy i pisem v 30-ti tomach. Pis’ma v 12-ti tomakh (T. 4; s. 353–593 [Primechaniya]). Moskva: Nauka.

Erenburg, I. (1971). Nad Czechowem. V: R. Śliwowski (wyb.), Czechow w oczach krytyki światowej (s. 7–82). Warszawa: PIW.

Fish, S. (2008). Interpretacja, retoryka, polityka. Eseje wybrane. Kraków: TAiWPN Universitas.

Golstein, V. (1993). ‘At Home’: At Home and Not at Home. V: R.L. Jackson (ed.), Reading Chekhov’s Text (s. 74–81). Evanston, IL: Northwestern UP.

Gordon, T. (2019). «Gusev», «Arkhiyerey», «Smert’ Ivana Il’icha»: sravneniye stilisticheskikh sistem. Voprosy literatury, № 1, 107–120, DOI: https://doi.org/10.31425/0042-8795-2019-1-107-120.

Herman, D. (2010). Narrative Theory after the Second Cognitive Revolution. V: L. Zunshine (ed.), Introduction to Cognitive Cultural Studies (s. 155–175). Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.

Katayev, V. (ed.). (2011). A.P. Chekhov. Entsiklopediya. Moskva: Prosveshcheniye.

Katayev, V.B. (1979). Proza Chekhova: problemy interpretatsii. Moskva: Izd-vo MGU.

Keklyudzhe, N. (2018). Vzglyady A.P. Chekhova na vospitaniye i rol’ khudozhestvennoy literatury v formirovanii kharaktera rebenka. Vestnik Moskovskogo gosudarstvennogo oblastnogo universiteta. Seriya: russkaya filologiya, № 2, 124–137, DOI: https://doi.org/10.18384/2310-7278-2018-2-124-137.

Kuleshov, V.I. (1982). Zhizn’ i tvorchestvo A.P. Chekhova. Moskva: Det. lit.

Leverage, P., Mancing, H., Schweickert, R., Marston, William, J.M. (eds.). (2011). Theory of Mind and Literature. Chapel Hill, NC: Purdue University Press.

Łebkowska, A. (2010). Narracja. V: M.P. Markowski, R. Nycz (red.), Kulturowa teoria literatury. Główne problemy i pojęcia (s. 181–216). Kraków: TAiWPN Universitas.

Nankov, N. (2003). Narrative Realms/NarrativeLimits: Chekhov’s Story ‘At Home’ in the Context of Modernity. Slavic and East European Journal, vol. 47(3), 441–469.

Pertsov, P.P. (2002). Iz”yany tvorchestva (Povesti i rasskazy A. Chekhova). V: I.N. Sukhikh et al. (red.), A.P. Chekhov: pro et contra. Antologiya (T. 1; s. 180–215). Sankt-Peterburg: RKHGI.

Śliwowski, R. (1989). Wstęp. V: R. Śliwowski (oprac.), A. Czechow. Opowiadania i opowieści (s. III–XCVIII). Wrocław–Warszawa–Kraków–Gdańsk–Łódź: Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich.

Toczyńska-Pęksa, A. (2009). Антон Чехов и воспитание детей (образ школы и учителей в рассказах Чехова). V: E. Komorowska, A. Porchawka-Mulicka (red.), Świat Słowian w języku i kulturze X. Literaturoznawstwo (s. 95–99). Szczecin: Print Group Daniel Krzanowski.

Toczyńska-Pęksa, A. (2010). Антон Чехов и воспитание детей (образ семьи и родителей в рассказах Чехова). V: E. Komorowska, D. Stanulewicz (red.), Język, kultura i świat roślin (s. 287–291). Szczecin: Volumina.pl Daniel Krzanowski.

Trzebiński, J. (1992). Narracyjne formy wiedzy potocznej. Poznań: Wydawnictwo NAKOM.




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17951/en.2020.5.299-311
Date of publication: 2020-12-31 10:41:47
Date of submission: 2019-10-10 19:27:53


Statistics


Total abstract view - 1094
Downloads (from 2020-06-17) - PDF (Русский) - 0

Indicators



Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2020

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.