NARRATOR IN THE EARLY PROSE OF AMBROSE BIERCE

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the early prose of Ambrose Bierce (“Nuggets and dust panned out in California”, “The Fiend’s delight”, “Tales of soldiers and civilians”) in an aspect of features of liminal epoch of XIX-XX centuries; the determination of the author’s status between romantic and realistic traditions is made. In the course of a comprehensive analysis of narrative structure it is concluded that it is subjective due to the figure of narrator, who unites all texts in one, which is demonstrating the face of modern American character. In conclusion, it is noted that a combination of verisimilitude of narration and subjective narrator gives a possibility of cooperation between author and his readers and makes the problems described common to all mankind.