REVOLUTIONARY OR NEW? ROMANTICISM IN K. SIMONOV’s POEM “THE RETURN”

The article presents an analysis of Simonov's poem “The Return” in the aspect of interaction with the literary tradition. In the poem, the motifs and values of revolutionary romanticism, neo-romanticism and romanticism coexist in conflict. Thus, the romantic motif of flight structurally equates the city of childhood with a vulgar reality and calls into question the ideas of camaraderie and labor exploits that are important for Soviet literature. In the story of the hero's brief return to the city of his childhood, a "secondary phase of alienation" (Mann's term) is realized. The myth of the beloved as the embodiment of the heavenly ideal takes on special significance in the poem. The source of certain motifs and images is the romantic tradition as a whole, besides, allusions and quotations referring directly to the works of Byron, Zhukovsky, Pushkin and to the lyrics of Gumilev and Esenin based on the romantic heritage have been identified. The removal of the metaphysical vertical and the courageous optimism of the final part of the poem suggest that it belongs to neo-romanticism. This study allows us to clarify the idea of the aesthetic orientation of Simonov's early work.

THE TRANSFORMATIONS OF THE LIFE WORLD IN THE SOVIET AND POST-SOVIET LITERATURE FOR CHILDREN

The article examines the transformation of the image of the life world, reflected in the problematics and value system of significant works of literature for children of the Soviet and post-Soviet period (on the example of Ukrainian and Russian literature). It is shown that literature for children quite clearly reflects the cultural and social environment, which allows the text to be dated to within a decade, but the best works go beyond their immediate context, which allows them to function in fundamentally new social conditions. The study of books that have an enduring popularity even after the country and society where they were created, have ceased to be, demonstrate remarkable vitality. Studying of the complex of ideas and values that underlie these texts can be helpful for better understanding of the axiological constants that can survive political, social and ideological transformations. Other important theme is the transformation of the reception of a text, were some layers of meaning can be actualized, and some – ignored, whether consciously or subconsciously. The study of selective reception of the text according to the dominant cultural paradigm can also have culturological value. Soviet literature for children cannot be evaluated only as a product of a conservative totalitarian society. It was constantly transformed, which led to the fact that the date of writing the text can almost always be set to the nearest decade. The study of these differences helps to see more clearly the trends of cultural change on a civilizational and global scale. Another aspect is the understanding of Ukrainian literature for children, which was formed within the general Soviet paradigm, although it has always had its own uniqueness. With the disintegration of the Union, and especially with the political events of recent years, Ukrainian literature has clearly separated from Russian in terms of both topics and guidelines. It is worth tracing which tendencies are common to both literatures, which are global, and which are peculiar only to our culture. It is also worth researching the comparison of modern Ukrainian literature with other cultural traditions, both to learn from the experience and to assert the uniqueness of their own art and their own world of life.

FEATURES OF INDUSTRIAL PROSE IN UKRAINIAN SOVIET LITERATURE: THE SHORT STORY “BLAST FURNACES” BY DMYTRO BUZKO

The paper highlights the features of ‘industrial’ prose in the Ukrainian Soviet literature of the 1930s clarifying the main formal and semantic characteristics of “industrial” genres, their reception in criticism, and such characteristics of this genre as style, plot, figurative and thematic principles. Based on D. Buzko’s text “Blast Furnaces”, the paper shows the transitional period between the free avant-garde artistic movement in Ukraine of the 1920s and the implementation of socialist realism as the only official style in Soviet art in the 1930s. As a representative of the futurist movement, deeply engaged in the elaboration of early cinema theories, Dmytro Byzko wrote a novel “Holiandiia”, which deconstructed official narratives and topics of the late 1920s. The comparison of the “Blast furnaces” with this novel helps not only to see the mentioned transition but also to notice the divergence of the “Blast furnaces” and more canonical pieces of this genre. Dmytro Buzko’s “Blast furnaces” extremely accurately reflects the expectations from literature at that time: the heroes explain the main stages of work at the metallurgical plant, and by their example, in words and deeds, agitate readers to become conscious builders of socialism. Although a large number of similar techniques, ideas, and even views of the author can be found in “Holiandiia” and “Blast furnaces”, the first novel is a sharp critique of the contemporary reality, while “Blast furnaces” is a text complementary to reality. The analysis of “Blast furnaces” shows the process of the search for an ideal and canonical protagonist as well as an antagonist for the Soviet literature. The last one in this text is represented by the typical for the whole Ukrainian literature covetous farmer who, in a new political reality, plays a role of a small evil ready to harm ordinary workers and socialistic future.

The Concept of Sacred in Post-Soviet Literature

<p>Rejecting the prior essentialist assumptions connected with the classical notions of the sacred, this dissertation argues for the redefinition of this concept and its use as an analytical tool. Religion, too, should no longer be held as a privileged space for the emergence of the sacred. The sacred is held not to be a numinous phenomenon experienced privately, a universal term, or of an unchangeable structure. Instead, it is a relative and temporary category constructed through certain cultural practices, which helps us disclose the concepts of meaning, identity and community. Such a redefined notion can be applied when speaking about contemporary culture and literature. This dissertation presents Russian writer Victor Pelevin as a case study, demonstrating the possibility to speak of the sacred in the seemingly secular post-Soviet milieu. It provides insights into the role of the sacred in his works and introduces new possible approaches towards his writings and his position in Russian literature. Moreover, the analysis of Pelevin’s works shows that this redefined understanding of the sacred is productive not only in his writings, but also in general in the studies of sacrality in the postmodern world, making this post-Soviet sacred a more extensive concept, applicable in a wide variety of contexts.</p>

The Concept of Sacred in Post-Soviet Literature

<p>Rejecting the prior essentialist assumptions connected with the classical notions of the sacred, this dissertation argues for the redefinition of this concept and its use as an analytical tool. Religion, too, should no longer be held as a privileged space for the emergence of the sacred. The sacred is held not to be a numinous phenomenon experienced privately, a universal term, or of an unchangeable structure. Instead, it is a relative and temporary category constructed through certain cultural practices, which helps us disclose the concepts of meaning, identity and community. Such a redefined notion can be applied when speaking about contemporary culture and literature. This dissertation presents Russian writer Victor Pelevin as a case study, demonstrating the possibility to speak of the sacred in the seemingly secular post-Soviet milieu. It provides insights into the role of the sacred in his works and introduces new possible approaches towards his writings and his position in Russian literature. Moreover, the analysis of Pelevin’s works shows that this redefined understanding of the sacred is productive not only in his writings, but also in general in the studies of sacrality in the postmodern world, making this post-Soviet sacred a more extensive concept, applicable in a wide variety of contexts.</p>

Axiology of Subject of Declarative-Publicistic Poetry (First Collection of Soviet Kabardian Poets “First Step”)

The problem of the axiology of the subject of declarative-publicistic poetry is considered in the article. The concepts of “publicistic poetry”, “declarative-publicistic poetry”, “propaganda poetry” are commented on. On the basis of a number of works devoted to the image of the “new woman”, which was actual in the proletarian poetry of the 1920s and 1930s, the elements defining the axiology of the subject are revealed. The collection of Soviet Kabardian poetry “First step” is researched. The purpose of the article is to reveal the nuances of value, which in the national “variants” of Soviet literature supplemented the canons of expression of a typical subject that have developed in Russian propaganda poetry. Attention is paid to the semantic content of the poetic “we”, the spatial and temporal aspects of the representation of the poetic subject, the nature of the relationship of the poetic statement subject to the main character. The axiological subtext of the details of clothing is demonstrated in the context of the opposition of two temporal plans, which is relevant for agitation poetry. It is proved that the representation of the subject of agitation poetry at the junction of two time plans is for the authors of “The First Step” the most functional aspect of his axiology. The relevance of the study is determined in the light of the problem of intercultural interaction, the perception by a particular culture of ways of expressiveness that are uncharacteristic for it, the formation of an unusual subject of poetic thinking.

Land and interethnic relations in the North Caucasus in the XIX - early XX centuries

В статье рассматриваются сложнейшие проблемы взаимоотношений коренных народов Северного Кавказа в дореволюционный период. Особенно выделяются этнополитические противоречия между казаками и коренными народами, включая также так называемых иногородних, под которыми здесь следует понимать русских, украинцев и представителей других славянских народов. Основное внимание уделяется ущербной внутренней политике Российской империи, которая, как показано в статье, создавала большие привилегии для казачества, наделяя их лучшими земельными участками, а коренные народы, которые в советской литературе традиционно назывались горцами, лишались элементарных земельных прав. The article deals with the most complex problems of relations between the indigenous peoples of the North Caucasus in the pre-revolutionary period. The ethnopolitical contradictions between the Cossacks and the indigenous peoples, including the so-called nonresidents, which should be understood as Russians, Ukrainians and representatives of other Slavic peoples, are particularly highlighted. The main attention is paid to the fl awed internal policy of the Russian Empire, which, as shown in the article, created great privileges for the Cossacks, giving them the best land plots, and the indigenous peoples, who were traditionally called highlanders in Soviet literature, were deprived of elementary land rights.

French Translations in the Ukrainian Literary Polysystem (The Executed Renaissance)

This contribution is within the framework of the polysystem theory of I. Even-Zohar, who, starting in translation studies, raised lively reflections on the role of translated literature within the literature of national culture. Literature, according to the researcher, is an open and dynamic polysystem composed of the centre and the periphery, the evolution of which is due to the continuous rivalry between the innovative and conservative tendencies of the polysystem. The contribution of the translations to the literary polysystem of a culture depends on their position in the polysystem of the target culture. Translations, being central in the literary polysystem, serve as sources of innovation as translators are freer to introduce foreign elements and techniques to the target literature. On the contrary, if the subsystem of the translated literature lies in the periphery of the polysystem, translators have to limit themselves to the models existing in the target culture, thus helping to maintain conservative tendencies. Our contribution is therefore an attempt to apply the theory of I. Even-Zohar to the study of French translations in the Ukrainian literary polysystem of the 1920ies-30ies. We have tried to shed light on the position of translated French literature in the Ukrainian literary polysystem as well as its contribution to the development of the reception system by analyzing the translation activity of the neo-classics representatives. Thus, we have identified three types of relationships between systems and subsystems characterizing the polysystemic approach: the centre versus the periphery (transitions from French); innovative systems versus conservative systems (the emergence of new literary genres in the centre of the field such as sonnets and heroic comedies; in addition the Symbolist and the Impressionist movements replaced the Soviet realism); canonical systems versus non-canonical systems (the introduction to the system of versification of forms and motifs which were different from those of Soviet literature).