Generative Narratology and Narrative Hermeneutics of Holy Scripture. Part 1: Generative Levels of a Literary Work in 20th-Century Literary Criticism

Abstract

The article attempts to apply the results of modern narratological research to the study of the biblical text. The author focuses on the achievements in the field of generative narratology, summarizing and analyzing different approaches to the structural organization of a literary work. The author examines two‑ and three‑level models of narrative generation. The dichotomy «fabula — syuzhet» (story — plot) serves as the starting point. The scope and content of these concepts are explored in the works of Russian Formalists and compared with analogous concepts in the Western European literary tradition. It is noted that each generative level of the narrative is characterized by its own set of hermeneutic operations. The totality of these operations is an important component of the fundamental cycle of meaning formation, which goes beyond the text and begins at the moment the consciousness of the literary creator meets actual reality. It is suggested that achievements in the field of generative narratology can be used in the context of research on the narrative hermeneutics of Holy Scripture.