GURGEN KHANJYAN'S PLAY "ON THE BRIDGE: YEARS LATER" IN THE LIGHT OF BIOGRAPHICAL AND SOCIO-POLITICAL CIRCUMSTANCES

Abstract

In the article, we have examined Gurgen Khanjyan's play "On the Bridge: Years Later" in the light of biographical and socio-political circumstances.

            The play is based on the biographical events of the author. The episodes from the past of the main character George directly reflect a large  period of G. Khanjyan's biography. In the center of the action is the character type of a middle-aged artist, internally divided, isolated, prone to alcoholism and irregular sex life, which generally corresponds to Gurgen Khanjyan.

To examine the connection between biography and literature correctly, we have referred to the critical significance of the biographical method, showing its advantages and disadvantages. To avoid a one-sided examination, we also referred to the three "totalities" identified by the cultural-historical method founder, Hippolyte Ten, in which the artistic work is located (co-authorship of the author's works, dominant currents and directions of the time, general nature of society).

               Based on these methods, we tried to examine the play in different chains. With the help of the interview conducted with the author, we compiled the early period of his biography, paying special attention to the episode of the suicide attempt. The latter is the core of the play, around which other events are woven. We have also referred to the socio-political circumstances of the country, because the general situation of the newly independent Armenia corresponded to the image of the author who reached the edge of the bridge. We examined the opinions expressed by the main character about painting as the manifestation of Gurgen Khanjyan's literary understanding, partially referring to the co-author of his work.

             We came to the conclusion that the biographical facts were generalized as much as possible in the play and became windows of the aesthetic perception of the world.