The genre of the work of A. Pushkin âThe Captain's Daughterâ is difficult to determine unambiguously: some researchers believe that this is a story, others, on the contrary, define it as a novel. The author himself believed that the "Captain's Daughter" is a description of the historical era in a fictional story. However, an indication of a specific genre does not give such a definition.
So, let's try to answer the question of âCaptain's Daughterâ - is it a novel or a story.
Synthesis of genres
As you know, A. S. Pushkin worked in different genres. However, in this work the level of his skill goes beyond our understanding. We cannot unambiguously answer the question of âCaptain's Daughterâ - is it a novel or a story.
Opinions of the writer's writers contradict each other. Itâs hard enough to understand what âCaptainâs daughterâ is - a novel or a story. Having defined the genre of a work, we will face the question of its character. After all, a novel and a story can be love, historical or family.
So, let's try to consider how the signs of various genres are manifested in this book.
âCaptain's daughterâ is a story?
Most researchers who define a work as a story rely primarily on the fact that it is very small in volume, and its events cover a short time period. Those who share this point of view also point to the ordinary personality of Peter Grinev and his entourage: such characters cannot be the heroes of the novel.
Indeed, this work is much shorter than the usual novels written by classics. However, we are again faced with the question of what is his character, and even a small amount of narration still cannot exclude the fact that this is a novel. Consider all the possible definitions of the genre.
The historical nature of the work
Undoubtedly, âThe Captain's Daughterâ is a historical novel or novel. Pushkin tells us about the period of the reign of Catherine the Great, namely the events of the riot led by Emelyan Pugachev. To write "The Captain's Daughter" the author did a great job: he got acquainted with historical documents, talked with the surviving witnesses of that time. Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin wrote the story âThe Captain's Daughterâ very painstakingly. The summary of the work rarely conveys how accurate the author is in describing the life of the small nobility, how expressive is the speech of Emelyan Pugachev, full of sayings, allegories characteristic of the Cossacks.
However, having determined that this work has a historical orientation, we cannot unambiguously answer the question of whether âThe Captain's Daughterâ is still a story or a novel.
Educational work
Of course, âThe Captain's Daughterâ has the signs of an educational work.
At the beginning of the story, a young nobleman Grinev appears before us a kind of undergrowth, a noble son, caressed by his parents. At the end of the book in front of them is a real man who has experienced a lot and has changed a lot in a short period of time. He learned to overcome dangers and with dignity to get out of difficult situations. Most of the work Pyotr Grinev is on the road, which is very characteristic of the educational work.
So, âCaptain's Daughterâ - a novel or an educational story?
The Captain's Daughter - a work of love
It should be noted that the love line, of course, is present in the plot of the book. The main character falls in love with Masha Mironova, he has a rival - Shvabrin. However, the topic of love is not the main one, the relationships of Peter Grinev and Maria, rather, serve as a backdrop in which the author shows how the personality of the protagonist changes.
The psychological component of the work
A.S. Pushkin attaches great importance to the inner world of the main character, his feelings, feelings, emotions. It is Petr Grinevâs internal dialogues that help us understand the reasons for his various actions, evaluate the changes in his personality.
The memoir form of presentation is excellent in helping the reader to appreciate how the worldview of the protagonist is changing towards the end of the work.
So, here we can conclude that this book describes certain historical events, shows the formation of the personality of the protagonist, while the narrative is very psychological and tells us a touching love story.
However, we did not answer the main question: "Captain's daughter" - is it a novel or a story? "
I must say that, as in the case of clarifying the nature of this narrative, it is impossible to draw an unambiguous conclusion in determining its genre. On the one hand, âThe Captain's Daughterâ is more focused on a rather short period of the protagonistâs life, which characterizes the work as a story. However, the fate of the heroes of this book is associated with historical events, which is characteristic of the novel. In addition, it is known that Pushkin wrote âThe Captain's Daughterâ under the influence of present-day events and tried to see the problems that combined the recent past and present, which also allows us to define the work as a novel.