Teoria umysłu a nieporozumienia bohaterów w prozie Czechowa (zarys)
Theory of Mind in the light of misunderstandings of heroes in Chekhov’s prose (outline)

Summary/Abstract: This piece of work presents an introduction to the research in Anton Chekhov’s prose based on Theory of Mind. By employing this theory one may gain a new approach to the research in narration and heroes and also a way to reveal the cognitive aspects of a literary work. Theory of Mind and metarepresentation allow to notice the reasons of communication issues, ‘clashes’ between heroes, which seem to be so common in Chekhov’s prose. In a short story The Death of a Civil Servant the reason of a failure in contacts with the other person is the disorder of main hero’s Theory of Mind, which leads to his mistaken perception of himself in the eyes of others. In the piece of work titled Sergeant Prishibeyev it is the sergeant’s mistaken attribution of intentions to other heroes that causes misunderstandings. Whereas The Man in the Case reveals how the decision to resign from contacts with other heroes gives rise to one’s isolation from the world and engenders a vicious circle of misunderstandings.

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