THE IDENTITY CRISIS IN THE CONTEXT OF GLOBALIZATION IN THE NOVEL BY OLGA TOKARCZUK “FLIGHTS”

This article considers the issue of the identity crisis in the context of globalization, represented in the novel Flights by Olga Tokarczuk, a Nobel Prize laureate and one of the best-selling Polish writers of our time. The artistic world of the novel reveals key features of globalization such as increasing global mobility, intensifying migrations, the dissipation of national borders, and the deactualization of national memory. O. Tokarczuk portrays an original type of a character acting in such conditions – a modern nomad that can be an emigrant, a refugee, a traveler, or a homeless person. This paper focuses on the correlation between memory collapse and identity crisis depicted in several stories from the novel. It mainly considers the philosophical aspect of the issue, namely, people’s fear of death and desire for immortality expressed through their propensity for perpetual motion and rejection of individual and national memory. The topic of plastination (a method of body preservation), deeply elaborated throughout the novel, is examined in the context of interdependency between human’s body and identity. Specific attention is dedicated to fragmentariness as essential characteristic of both formal side of the novel (composition, narrative) and its thematic range. Fragmentariness is also intrinsic to the artistic manifestation of memory, presented in the form of a heterogeneous archive. Providing an alternative, polyphonic narrative, O. Tokarczuk opposes it to any kind of a coherent, monolithic historical narrative. Written in 2007, this novel is particularly interesting to analyze nowadays, when impugning the globalization values is becoming a common tendency. In the new context, Flights can be construed as a warning about creating a world devoid of memorial meaning. This article highlights a well-pronounced appeal to recollection and verbalization of the past. In the “narrating” of life, O. Tokarczuk sees the way to salvation and liberation, thus affirming the crucial role of memory in dealing with the identity crisis faced by contemporary societies.

Eugenio Corti: Testimony of Charity during WWII

Eugenio Corti (Besana 1921-2014) was born in Brianza in a Catholic family, he enrolled in the Faculty of Jurisprudence of the Catholic University in Milan in 1940 and was called to arms in February of the following year. He is one of the first Italian writers who have faithfully recounted the tragic experience of Italian retreat from Russia in World War II in his diary Few returned. This diary describes the Evil in all its many shapes and forms, but at the same time it represent a journey of asceticism; in fact, this young soldier, Eugenio Corti, who left for the front as a volunteer in order to learn something more about communism, was able to experience what Good and True are even in the white hell of the Eastern front. His philosophy was shaped by his family background, military responsibility and the face of his friends: longing for and finding Good and True will be for him the only way to generate and build something positive. His testimony can be likened to the testimony about war events by great authors, like Rigoni Stern, Carlo Gnocchi, Giulio Bedeschi. But Corti’s war experience is also a path of ascension towards the discovery of his own vocation as a writer, in which all his talents as a historian, scholar and Christian wisely matched. Looking at his entire literary production, we realize that Corti, as a true historian, records the facts, evaluate the historical events and revise them using different literary genres, such as the essay, the short story, the diary and the novel; he transforms history into literature, the solid material into a piece of art. Eugenio Corti, soldier, writer, friend, husband, traveling companion, educator, witness of the charity, gave us fundamental works that alongside those of eminent writers, such as Mann, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky and Manzoni (just to name few names), exhort the readers to civil commitment and moral mission, which are necessary to nurture and improve the culture of a people.

The Russian Army of Nicholas І, Seen by the British during the Russian-Turkish War of 1853-1856 (Linguoimagological Aspect)

The article analyzes the views of the British soldiers, officers and journalists on their opponents – the Russians during the Russian-Turkish war of 1853-1856 from the perspective of linguoimagology. This science considers the means of image verbalization. For the study the memoirs of the Crimean War witnesses, journalists’ notes, letters of the English soldiers and officers home were selected. The assessment, given to the enemy by the British, is of particular interest. The following aspects are explored: the Russians in battle, cunning behavior of Nicholas I army soldiers, their ammunition. The British writers also drew attention to the color of the officers' uniforms (blue) and highlighted the color of the soldiers (gray), which was different from the red one, used in England. The authors emphasize the unsatisfactory state of the ordinary soldiers’ clothing (low assessment) and the excellent condition of the elite troops (high assessment). In addition, the English writers paid attention to the beards of the Russians, which were not already widespread in Europe at that period of time, but were considered as a sign of holiness in Russia, and were worn both by nobles and people of the lower strata. The authors of the memoirs use the following means of interpreting the linguoimagological aspect: inversion, metaphor, exclamation marks, superlatives, lexical repetitions, stereotypes, details, and even French borrowings. Aesthetic and ethical assessments are used to add expressiveness to the narrative.

Eugenio Corti and the Communism

Eugenio Corti (1921–2014), marked by a precocious vocation as a writer, focuses on communism as the major danger of the twentieth century. Aiming to see by himself the ongoing experiment of the Soviet communism, he answered the call to arms by asking to be sent to the eastern front – despite disapproving the war of the German allies against Russia. While in Ukraine, he gets aware of the communist inhumanity and, still alive after the retreat, he devotes himself to the service of truth. He denounces the connivance of the western culture with the massacres provoked by the communist ideology. The tragedy Processo e morte di Stalin (1962) originates from a long study of the theory and praxis of the communism in the Soviet Union, but also in China and Indochina. In this work, the Georgian dictator, forced by a conspiracy lead by Politburo members, analyzes the real communism; in the end, he demonstrates the practical impossibility of the ideal society of the “new mankind”, which this ideology longed for. Eugenio Corti was born on 21 January 1921, the same day when the history of Communist Party of Italy began after the split of the Italian Socialist Party: this coincidence of the dates is emblematic of the approach, both historical and transcendent, with which the Author will investigate the origin and the results of the communist experiment, denouncing the horrors perpetrated in the implementation of Marxist theories. Following this existential vocation, after a diary of his memories of the retreat from the Eastern front and after a novel about his experience in the regular army during the war of liberation of Italy from the German army, he dedicated himself to a long and consistent study of communist ideology. Alongside the works of Marx, Stalin and Lenin, he analyzed a large amount of studies on the philosophical roots of communism, including the accredited work of Isaac Deutscher on Stalin. In Corti’s view, Stalin addresses the failure of this utopian project to the unchangeability of the nature and of the human heart. By confuting the theses of marxism-leninism on the basis of reality, Corti shows that the evil is not found in unbalanced class relations, but in the human heart which, at the same time, constitutes the extreme defense of the universal human values.

The Minotaur’s Image in Pablo Picasso’s Works. An Iconological Study of the Subconscious

The article analyzes the image of the Minotaur in the work of Pablo Picasso where the painter identifies himself with this mythological being. Such an identification dates back to the time of Picasso’s relationship with Marie-Thérèse Walter, at which point the painter takes up his old bullfighting theme, which will culminate in his epic Guernica. At that time Picasso also becomes interested in surrealism and Freud’s theories. In addition, the artist maintained a relationship of reciprocal admiration with the surrealist intellectuals and writers, who influenced him as well. Minotaur is a symbol of the instinctive force of the subconscious, and Picasso appropriates it to express the criminal and sexual impulse that ends up dominating the most entrenched conventions of the human being. All the characters of the Minotauromaquia represent Picasso himself in various dimensions of his mind. Minotaur is a human and an animal at the same time, a synthesis of the two main antagonists of the bullfight, which Picasso was so fond of; the human part of the Minotaur is also endowed with consciousness. The bullfight as a national holiday is a national tragedy as well, and in Picasso’s symbolic vision, the death is the only winner there. The influence of his relations with the beloved women in the imaginary of his painting is accentuated likewise, particularly in Picasso’s portraying of himself as a blind Minotaur which lets himself be carried away by a girl, and the presence of the bullfighter woman. The evolution of the bullfighting theme in the painter’s future facilitates the better understanding of the symbolism of his Guernica painting. For Picasso, ancient myths are not only an invented fable, but a source of inspiration for life impulses, which, as he feels, influence his personality.

The Conquest and Resistance, a Woman and a Man: Feminist and Imagological Reading of W. S. Maugham’s “The Unconquered”

In the paper, the national and women’s contexts closely interrelated in W. S. Maugham’s “The Unconquered” short story (1943) are being examined. While analysing the ground of the conquest and resistance, it is concluded that war conquering and sexual violence are aimed to establish the men’s power over certain part of the world. In some ways, capturing a woman and occupying the land are considered equal things under the patriarchal rules. With this in mind, any male conqueror tries to reach both of them not only for the sake of victory, but also for approval his status of a worthy member of a men-ruling society (a nation). Next, the role of stereotypes as an engine of all negative phenomena of national and gender non-understanding, in particular, war and various kinds of inequality, is stressed. Tracing the complex relationship between, on the one hand, Frenchmen and Germans, and women and men, on the other hand, it should be token that the final infanticide is multivalued whereas it means the woman’s liberation and revenge for the men’s world, as well as is an apogee of national resistance.

A Son of Kharkiv Soil and his Double Anniversary

The article is devoted to the work by L. Mechnikov commemorating his double anniversary in 2018. The elder brother of famous I. Mechnikov is closely associated to Kharkiv and Kharkiv University. During his life throughout the world (Europe, Middle East, Japan, USA). L. Mechnikov revealed the versatility of his talent: as a social scientist, writer, journalist, and teacher. The article accentuates his own literary heritage, especially his literary-critical publications that have still got no due attention. L. Mechnikov is primarily known as the author of his scientific work “Civilization and the great historical rivers” (Paris, 1889) presenting the original theory of human development. However, he is the author of more than 400 books including novels, memoirs, articles, satires. The article focuses first on his two autobiographical novels describing the writer`s childhood and youth in Kharkiv region, emigration years in France and Italy. His later work called “Notes of the Garibaldian” is explored as a masterful reconstitution of the Risorgimento era, filled with a wide range of interesting characters, details and descriptions. It is revealed that during his elder years, L. Mechnikov devoted himself to the study of Italian literature history from a socio-political point of view. He raised the issue of the relationship between romanticism and realism in the literature of the period of national liberation struggle, stressed the importance of civic literature, expressed a weighty opinion about the use of poetic forms, genres and the expression of people's aspirations in literature as its highest purpose. He continued the critical research of literary works until his late days, exploring the novels by Honore de Balzac, Georges Sand, Victor Hugo, Emile Zola. The article concludes that L. Mechnikov is an illustrious son of Kharkiv who developed his talents in literature, criticism and social theories that has to be known to his compatriots.

The Christian Ideal and the Communist Ideology in the Novel by Eugenio Corti “The Red Horse”

The paper examines the phenomenon of creativity of the Italian writer Eugenio Corti, author of the historical novel Il Cavallo Rosso. Namely, it concerns the specificity of his artistic method and themes. The historical novel Il Cavallo Rosso, describes the 30-year period of Italian history from the pre-war period to the referendum on divorce in post-war Italy in the Seventies, so it points out many different and interesting features. This article will mainly focus the attention on the problems concerning the value of human life and humanity, from the point of view both of the Christian ideal and communist ideology. The novel is especially relevant for modern Ukraine, since it shows how the experience of the war can help rethinking national identity, the significance of history and of human life. Even the war represented for the author the possibility of realizing his own task, i.e. discovering the truth of himself and of the world. He could even say: «War can be an immense advantage. War makes men. The war teaches an infinite number of things because it shows us our fellow men as they are: it teaches us to truly know men». Accepting reality as it is represented to Corti the possibility of realizing its mission to be aware of himself and of man condition in general. The dynamisms of the narration in the novel Il Cavallo Rosso reflect the same dynamisms of life: life never goes on standby, human beings never renounce hope, they keep on looking for new and better answers to their existential questions. In this sense Corti's novel can be considered historical, not only because the author, fond of history, loved to be extremely faithful to the facts, but also because he admirably managed to make the same mechanisms of history and life. Through his great love for reality and his desire to know it better and let it known to everybody, Corti discovered his vocation in the world of literature: the vocation of being a Witness. And the novel we are talking about is a proof of this, as there are narrated his life experiences and those of his generation. Knowing better Man and History, the Life and its meaning, is the main goal of the big novel Il cavallo rosso, this is why the concepts of “experience”, “testimony” and “anti-testimony” will be highlighted as main components of both the author’s life and his literary vocation.

Pragmatic and stylistic aspects of expressing tolerance in modern American short stories

In the article, the aspects and types of such stylistic device as foregrounding are investigated in the short stories of contemporary American writers. The quantitative aspect of foregrounding prevails in flash fiction stories which is realized by means of stylistic convergence and parallelism. Convergences are mainly used in strong positions, especially in the endings, as in the stories by J. Updike, D. Galef, D.Eggers. The qualitative aspect of foregrounding is expressed with the help of tropes such as metaphor, simile and oxymoron which are also present in strong positions – titles, beginnings, endings (the stories by G. Paley, D. Galef, J. Updike). The idea of tolerance, sympathy, understanding is dominant in many flash fiction stories. Foregrounding, especially in the strong positions of the stories, emphasizes this idea, thus producing a strong pragmatic, emotional effect. Due to such device in the endings many flash fiction stories can be called modern parables of life, love, justice.

STUNNING DESTINIES OF FAMOUS STUDENTS OF KHARKOV UNIVERSITY

In the destiny of a woman at all times, a great role was played by love. Is the life of a woman always wonderful when it is governed by love? The article attempts to answer this question by the example of two student-peers of the same department of Kharkov University. One of them is Galina Arturovna Benislavskaya. She was a journalist, literary worker, friend and literary secretary of Sergei Yesenin, who selflessly loved the poet and became for him “mother-servant”. Her destiny allows us to confirm the opposite: on December 3, 1926, she shot herself at the poet's grave. The article contains little-known facts from her personal life and creativity. Another student is Dvora Israilevna Nezer. They both are outstanding personalities, representatives of the generation of women who fought for gender equality. Unlike G. A. Benislavskaya, the destiny of D. I. Netzer was successful, thanks to the fact that she did not divide her life into constituent parts: love, husband, children, career. Little-known facts of her biography are cited. She was happy in marriage, raised two children (daughter, professor Rina Shapiro – winner of the Israel Prize in the field of education), reached unprecedented political heights for the students of the Kharkov University (she became deputy chairman of the Knesset). It is asserted that irrespective of the choice of profession and the way of its realization, acceptance and reassessment of religious and moral beliefs, political views, the adoption of a set of social roles regarding marriage, motherhood, etc., the harmony of personality plays a decisive role in the destiny of women. At the same time, the author does not deny the great role of love in the life of mankind.