The worldview of the heroes in Ihar Babkov’s novel “A Minute. Three Stories”

Abstract

This article provides a literary analysis and interpretation of Ihar Babkov’s novel A Minute. Three Stories in the context of issues related to national identity and self-identification in Belarusian culture. The starting point of the author’s deliberations is the theory of intercultural communication
and the definition of cultural identity from a diachronic and contemporary point of view. The system of values presented in the novel is interpreted both in relation to the historical period and geographical area, and from the perspective of an individual involved in interpersonal relations and existing in a specific time and space. Although the dominant feature of the novel are the philosophical views and aesthetic principles professed by the protagonists, the indefinite and supranational dimension of time and space in the work allows for an interpretation in the context of cultural identity and identity in general (being a human means being...). The study is carried out using the comparative method, based on the theory of linguistic communication. The analysis proves that the plot of the novel is founded in the intertwining of different places and events, the concealing of the protagonists, and the combination of elements from both the real and the unreal. Further study showed that that one of the components of the Belarusian context in the novel is the philosophical pursuit of happiness by an individual in both a national and personal dimension.