EXPLORING THE USE OF SURREALISM IN FLASH FICTION : A DEEP DIVE INTO TARA CAMPBELL'S "YOU, COMMUTER"

Authors

  • Khajieva Feruza Melsovna Doctor of Philological Sciences (DSc), Professor of the Department of English Literature and Translation Studies Faculty of Foreign Languages, Bukhara State University, Uzbekistan
  • Sharipova Parvina Shukhratovna Department of English Literature and Translation Studies, Faculty of Foreign Languages, Bukhara State University, Uzbekistan Master student of Bukhara State University

Abstract

The paper discusses the concept of surrealism expressed in flash fiction, focusing on Tara Campbell's “You, Commuter”. Through a concise yet powerful narrative, Campbell blends the ordinary experience of commuting with surreal elements, creating a disorienting journey that mirrors the protagonist's internal turmoil. The article will analyze how Campbell employs minimalist storytelling to portray the sense of lost identity and the breakdown of self-awareness within an urban setting. Ultimately, the article will show Campbell's surrealism in flash fiction as an enhancement of the story by evoking emotions in the readers with its vividness and open-ended ambiguity.

References

1. Campbell, Tara. “You, Commuter”. In Flash Fiction International: Very Short Stories from Around the World. W.W. Norton & Company, 2015.

2. Salter, William. "Flash Fiction and the Art of Brevity." “The New Yorker”, 23 Oct. 2014, www.newyorker.com.

3. Borges, Jorge Luis. "The Aleph." “Ficciones. Grove Press, 1962.

4. Nicolson, Adam. "The Short Story." “Oxford Handbook of the Short Story”, Oxford University Press, 2017.

5. Žižek, Slavoj. “The Sublime Object of Ideology”. Verso, 1989.

6. Bishop, Judith. "Flash Fiction as an Art Form." ‘Short Fiction and the Contemporary British Novel”, Manchester University Press, 2009.

7. Carroll, Noël. “Philosophy of Horror: Or, Paradoxes of the Heart”. Routledge, 1990.

8. Freud, Sigmund. “The Interpretation of Dreams”. Basic Books, 2010.

9. Todorov, Tzvetan. “The Fantastic: A Structural Approach to a Literary Genre”. Cornell University Press, 1975.

10. Bates, David. "Surrealism, Language, and the Unconscious." “Modernism/Modernity”, vol. 4, no. 1, 1997, pp. 49-71.

11. Raymond, Leonard. “Surrealism and the Art of Dreaming”. Columbia University Press, 2003.

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Published

2025-01-05

How to Cite

Feruza Melsovna, K., & Parvina Shukhratovna, S. (2025). EXPLORING THE USE OF SURREALISM IN FLASH FICTION : A DEEP DIVE INTO TARA CAMPBELL’S "YOU, COMMUTER". Recent Scientific Discoveries and Methodological Research, 2(1), 11–13. Retrieved from https://incop.org/index.php/re/article/view/569

Issue

Vol. 2 No. 1 (2025): Recent scientific discoveries and methodological research

Section

Articles