THE ARTISTIC FUNCTION OF CONTRAST IN THE NINETEENTH-CENTURY ENGLISH, FRENCH, AND GERMAN NOVEL: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

Abstract

Abstract: In this article the use of artistic contrast in the nineteenth-century English, French and German novel is considered in comparison of Charles Dickens, Victor Hugo and Gustav Freytag. It is emphasized that despite the typological convergence of the function of contrast as an artistic and compositional means for the revelation of social, moral and philosophical conflicts in the works of all three authors, it is interpreted according to the national literary tradition of each author. In Dickens it is used for the purposes of humanitarian social criticism; in Hugo – as expression of philosophical and romantic conflicts between the law, conscience and moral value; and in Freytag – as practical didactic function with emphasis on ethical value. Consequently, the example of works of Dickens, Hugo and Freytag proves the existence of simultaneous interaction of typological convergence and national literary specificity.