Interpretation of the category of the fantastic in the short stories of Dino Buzzati

The purpose of the study is to explain the specifics of the category of the fantastic in the short stories of the 20th-century Italian writer Dino Buzzati. The article examines the features of the interpretation of the fantastic by a writer known for his special approach to the philosophical and aesthetic category that has remained relevant for several centuries. The choice of different collections of short stories for the study is due to the need to analyze the category of the fantastic using the examples of texts separated by a time distance. Over the years, the writer has remained true to the principles of interpretation of the fantastic that he once defined. The scientific novelty of the work is related to the identification of several types of the category of the fantastic in the material of Dino Buzzati’s short stories in accordance with the writer’s concept of the fantastic. As a result of the study, it was found that for Dino Buzzati, the fantastic is not something exceptional, opposed to reality. The category of the unreal is associated with the motives of expectation and fear, which allow a more accurate interpretation of the features of the studied category. In the analyzed stories, the types of the actually fantastic, the conditionally fantastic, and the symbolic fantastic are distinguished. The connection between the categories of the absurd and the fantastic is significant. The category of the incredible occupies an important place in Dino Buzzati’s aesthetic system, influencing its development.