The Poetics of Psychologism in Zinaida Katkova's Short Russian Prose

The relevance of this study is due to the growing interest of modern Russian literary studies in the works of national (transcultural) authors who write in Russian rather than their native (ethnic) language, and in the specifics of psychologism in their Russian-language works. The article examines the poetics of psychologism in the short Russian-language prose of Zinaida Fyodorovna Katkova, a Mari writer of the second half of the 20th century, based on six of her short stories published between 1958 and 1979: "The Stranger" (1958), "The Return" (1964), "Little Samar" (1969), "Help Me Fall in Love with You" (1972), "The Unexpected Guest" (1975), and "For the Sake of Love" (1979). These stories have never been the subject of special literary analysis in regional or national studies, either in terms of psychological analysis or in any other aspect. The work uses a system-typological method, a comparative-historical analysis, and an in-depth textual analysis aimed at identifying the artistic features of psychologism in Zinaida Katkova's short Russian-language prose. Based on the analysis of Zinaida Katkova's short stories from different years, the article traces the evolution of psychologism in her Russian-language prose, from socially conditioned psychologism to existential psychologism. The article reveals the special role of artistic details in the short prose of a Mari writer in revealing the inner world of characters, and analyzes specific techniques for creating psychological portraits. The author pays great attention to the compositional features of the stories and the speech characteristics of the characters as means of psychologizing the narrative. It is concluded that Zinaida Katkova's work is of significant interest for studying the specifics of psychologism in the Russian-language prose of national authors and deserves further careful research as an original artistic phenomenon that organically combines the traditions of the Russian psychological school and the national worldview.