Skas
The Skas ( Russian "story, which is led by the person of the narrator", from сказать "to say") describes a narrative style that simulates an orality of communication between narrator and reader. The narrator reveals himself as a communicative authority who sometimes even ponders the way in which the subject is reproduced . In some places he explicitly reveals his ignorance of the course of the action, the non-disclosure of information or his assessment of the people involved.
The skas in the coinage of Russian literature had its most important representatives in Nikolai Wassiljewitsch Gogol and Nikolai Semjonowitsch Leskow . The former brought this stylistic method to perfection , particularly in his story Der Mantel, published in 1842 . The narrative begins with a comment by the narrator, which reveals his existence as a selective authority for the conveyed content:
“In the department ... but we'd better not name the department. There is nothing more sensitive than all kinds of departments, regiments, chancelleries and, in a word, all kinds of professional associations. Nowadays every private citizen believes that the whole of society is insulted in his person. […] So, in order to avoid any inconvenience, let's simply call the department in question a department. "