Experimental Short Prose of Arkadii Liubchenko

Abstract

This article focuses on the experimental short prose of Arkadii Liubchenko, highlighting the combination of ornamental and sharply plot-driven elements in his works. Liubchenko began his creative evolution with short stories and “poetry in prose,” written in an impressionistic tone. Later, he turned to neoromantic and neorealist psychological short stories, featuring expositional intrigue, dynamic plot development, and unexpected catharsis, concluding with resolutions that avoid moralizing. His stories incorporate framing techniques, text-within-text structures, and the interplay of authorial and character voices, sometimes presented from alternative perspectives, in particular animals.

The article also notes a lyrization of the narrative epic in his novellas, as well as the use of metrical verse techniques within narrative structures. Liubchenko’s experimentation with short prose, which ultimately became a limiting form for him, led him to explore broader epic forms, such as the novel in short stories “Vertep”.