Narrative Structure of Jerzy Sosnowski’s Novel Fafarulai, or Orange Pastilles

Abstract

Jerzy Sosnowski’s novel Fafarulai, or Orange Pastilles was published in 2017 and is the second part of a dilogy (the first being Dream of Owls (2016)). Critics have noted the work’s key themes and characteristics (its autobiographical nature, intermediality, and a sense of the era). The plot, consisting of micro-stories, has led critics to argue that the novel disintegrates into separate fragments. This article hypothesizes that the work’s cohesion is ensured by its narrative structure. The novel’s analysis draws on the concepts of V. Schmid and V. Tyupa. The researcher focuses on the narrator type and its transformations, as well as on narrative instances (narrator, addressee of the narrative, fictional reader, and narrative intrigue). The specifics of autobiographical writing, composition and paratext, and the text’s graphic image are explored. The following results were obtained: the narrator is diegetic; over the course of the novel, narrative methods and narrator’s masks are transformed; and fragments of metanarrative are noted. Narrative transformations are isomorphic to the stages of the protagonist’s development. The system of prolepses and analepses points to the nonlinear nature of artistic time, as well as a crisis plot defined by an enigmatic narrative intrigue. It is argued that the verbal narrative intrigue and the graphic appearance of the text embody the literary and playful nature of the narrative. The composition includes disparate fragments, conveying the creative, playful nature of the narrative and the author’s approach to the characters. Metanarrative episodes separate the protagonist and the narrator while simultaneously bringing them together. It is concluded that narrative structure is a way of providing cohesion to the story being told.

Received: 24.01.2026.
Revised: 15.02.2026.
Accepted: 17.03.2026.

Citation
Kozmina E. Yu. Narrative Structure of Jerzy Sosnowski’s Novel Fafarulai, or Orange Pastilles // Slavic Almanac. 2026. № 1–2. P. 375–387 (in Russian). DOI: 10.31168/2073-5731.2026.1-2.21