«Contradictions» in the Gospel Narrative Through the Prism of Generative Narratology

Abstract

In this article, the author attempts to resolve the apparent contradictions that arise between the gospel narratives using the tools of narrative criticism. The decision is based on the basic position of narratology, according to which the story of an event that happened is not the event itself. The narrative arises as a result of the interpretative activity of the author's consciousness, which processes reality in order to conceptualize it. The developments of generative narratology are used, which help to identify the main stages of this process: «happening», «event», «fact», «sign». As a result, the author focuses on two generative levels of the narrative, such as «event» and «fact». It is noted that for the transition from «event» to «fact», those hermeneutic operations are significant, as a result of which the narrative acquires such characteristics as dimension, concreteness, integrity. Observing the peculiarities of these parameters within the framework of the gospel narrative helps to explain a number of apparent contradictions between the versions of the evangelists.