Abstract:

The paper considers the literary works of two well-known English writers Antonia Susan Byatt and Margaret Drabble and describes the course of stylistic analysis with university students at English literature classes. The purpose of the article is to research the stylistic peculiarities of A.S. Byatt’s and M. Drabble’s novels, particularly “The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye” and “The Realms of Gold”, to reveal some similarities and differences in these authors’ styles.

In the paper the concrete textual study of Byatt’s and Drabble’s works is carried out on the basis of the comparative-historical method of analysis of their creative work and the literary process of Britain as a whole. This theoretical approach is combined with literary-historical and literary-critical angles. The analysis proves that Byatt’s and Drabble’s novels have considerable thematic and imagery coincidences. The images of their main characters are very similar: their lifestyles, fates, professional activity. To create them the writers use similar images, epithets, literary reminiscences, but various narrative techniques. Drabble's novels are more realistic, psychological, while Byatt immerses the reader in a fantastic environment, where it is sometimes difficult to distinguish reality from fiction.

The results of the research can be applied by educators and teachers to master their teaching practice. The basic methods and analysis techniques can be used in the preparation of seminars on Byatt’s and Drabble’s works, for reading special courses on contemporary literature, in the study of other authors’ artistic styles.

Keywords:

Research, university student, education, English literature, A.S. Byatt, M. Drabble, novel, writer, “The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye”, “The Realms of Gold”.