<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Thus far perhaps the most acclaimed Irish practitioner of the short story, Frank O’Connor, attributes a lasting influence to Russian author Anton Chekhov when he considers the direction that the modern Irish short story was to take in the twentieth century. In <italic>The Lonely Voice: A Study of the Short Story</italic> (1963), O’Connor emphasized two particular themes in Chekhov’s short fiction that influenced his own stories: on the one hand, a preoccupation with loneliness; on the other, a belief that venial sin, or the adoption of a false personality, was “far more destructive” than mortal sin itself. In other writings, he expressed an interest in narrative technique and structure as he found them in Chekhov’s stories. The article explores O’Connor’s “Uprooted” from his collection <italic>Crab Apple Jelly</italic> (1944), a story about displaced intellectuals. My reading illustrates how the Irish writer was not only adopting Chekhov’s themes but was also experimenting with Chekhov’s character types and narrative techniques, particularly as found in the Russian author’s story “The Lady with the Dog.” At the same time, O’Connor developed a distinctly individual technique of his own within the Irish realist/naturalist short story tradition, making a lasting impact on the art of the modern Irish short story. Unlike his displaced Irish characters in “Uprooted,” he prefers to remain faithful to this tradition.</p></abstract>

Thus far perhaps the most acclaimed Irish practitioner of the short story, Frank O’Connor, attributes a lasting influence to Russian author Anton Chekhov when he considers the direction that the modern Irish short story was to take in the twentieth century. In The Lonely Voice: A Study of the Short Story (1963), O’Connor emphasized two particular themes in Chekhov’s short fiction that influenced his own stories: on the one hand, a preoccupation with loneliness; on the other, a belief that venial sin, or the adoption of a false personality, was “far more destructive” than mortal sin itself. In other writings, he expressed an interest in narrative technique and structure as he found them in Chekhov’s stories. The article explores O’Connor’s “Uprooted” from his collection Crab Apple Jelly (1944), a story about displaced intellectuals. My reading illustrates how the Irish writer was not only adopting Chekhov’s themes but was also experimenting with Chekhov’s character types and narrative techniques, particularly as found in the Russian author’s story “The Lady with the Dog.” At the same time, O’Connor developed a distinctly individual technique of his own within the Irish realist/naturalist short story tradition, making a lasting impact on the art of the modern Irish short story. Unlike his displaced Irish characters in “Uprooted,” he prefers to remain faithful to this tradition.

“Uprooted:” Anton Chekhov’s Influence on Frank O’Connor

Department of English Literatures and Cultures

Acta Universitatis Sapientiae, Philologica

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

{"article-title":"\u201cUprooted:\u201d Anton Chekhov\u2019s Influence on Frank O\u2019Connor"}

Thus far perhaps the most acclaimed Irish practitioner of the short story, Frank O’Connor, attributes a lasting influence to Russian author Anton Chekhov when...

“Uprooted:” Anton Chekhov’s Influence on Frank O’Connor

Published Online: Nov 09, 2020

Page range: 98 - 109

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ausp-2020-0008

Keywords
O’Connor, Chekhov, modernism, realism, naturalism, Irish short story

© 2020 Márta Pellérdi, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

“Uprooted:” Anton Chekhov’s Influence on Frank O’Connor

Published Online: Nov 09, 2020

Page range: 98 - 109

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ausp-2020-0008

KeywordsO’Connor, Chekhov, modernism, realism, naturalism, Irish short story

© 2020 Márta Pellérdi, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
O’Connor, Chekhov, modernism, realism, naturalism, Irish short story