“Toxic” American literature

Abstract

The subject of this research is the behavior model of the characters in modern American literature. The goal lies in examination of the key attributes of “toxicity” as an element of artistic world resembled in modern American literature. The object of this research is the prose of Chuck Palahniuk. It is established that “toxicity” is one of the plotline components for building the characters of the heroes in modern American literature. The conducted analysis of the images of heroes and the components of artistic world of C. Palahniuk’s prose allows concluding that “toxicity” is not only the binding element in the artistic world of American literature, but also a construct that forms the dynamic development of the heroes. The scientific novelty consists in the fact that this article is first to analyze “toxicity” as an artistic element of modern American literary texts. Prior to that, “toxicity” as a phenomenon was viewed from the perspective of psychological, sociological, and philosophical research. Therefore, the study of the phenomenon of toxicity in literature is of particular relevance due to its interdisciplinarity. The author believes that the types ad peculiarities of “toxicity” as an element of the artistic world in modern American literature, as well as interaction of other structural elements should be also viewed on the example of other works of modern American literature. The characteristic features that unite the works as a transgressive prose should be determined and compared.