Abstract:

Human constitutes the main material of art and literature. Human and his struggle for life have a priority in works of art. However, writers also include animals in their works. Animalism is an artistic genre associated with the depiction of the animal world. It is considered one of the eternal themes in literature and becomes the main theme of Russian folklore. By developing in the written literature of different periods, many great Russian writers from ancient times to the present have been included animal images in their works. While examining the development process of animal images in the history of Russian literature, the origins of their first appearance are encountered in oral folklore, fairy tales, epics and mythologies. However, it is seen that folkloric traditions are preserved and reflected in the old written Russian literature. Animal images first began to be the subject of the 18th Russian literature. However, 20th century represents the most remarkable stage in the development of this genre. The subject of our study consists of examining animal images in the stories of Aleksandr Kuprin, one of the most competent writers of 20th century Russian literature. In this sense, firstly the reasons for the author's love and interest in animals will be mentioned, and then evaluations will be made on the works “White Barbet Dog” (Belıy pudel’), “Emerald” (İzumrud), “Gray Wolf” (Serebryanıy volk) which are written to describe the animal kingdom. The aim of the study is to try to make sense of animal images (dog, horse and wolf) and their characteristics, which are one of the main themes of Russian literature, within the framework of Kuprin’s stories by basing them on critical, literary and descriptive analytical methods. 

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