The Concept of Suffering in the Literary and Medical Discourse of the 20th century U.S. Prose
The article examines the narrative mechanisms of implementing the concept of suffering based on the prose works, focused on medical issues. The author analyzes the artistic means of representing the category of suffering in the works by the American writers of the 20th century, in particular, in the literary heritage of the “Southern Gothic” representatives (Carson McCullers, William Faulkner, Flannery O'Connor, John Updike and others). The research discloses the receptive resource of literary works, wherein the concept of corporal and spiritual suffering becomes a counterpoint of the author's intention and the reader's perception.Key words: literary and medical discourse, the U.S. prose, the 20th century literature, narrator, the concept of suffering.