Biblical motives in the modern Ukrainian literature

Abstract

The subject of the study is the representation of Christian vision in the Ukrainian literature of independence. The problem is considered in the dichotomy of conservative Christian views against multicultural and atheistic education. The purpose of this study is to discuss theses in T. Trokhymenko’s 2022 article ‘The modern Ukrainian Literature and Christianity’, published in the journal ‘Patriarchy: the Uniate analytical periodical’. The structural elements of the work repeat the confutable source. The author uses the methods of slow reading, componential analysis, as well as typological and comparative. The novelty of the study is determined by the transformation of receptions of religious motifs in Ukrainian literature and the change of the religious space of Ukraine, which prompts us to understand the mechanisms of such transformations in the modern historical context.

As a result of the study, it was established that the worldview paradigm of Christianity has undergone significant distortion due to Soviet policy and the influence of other religions - both Ukrainian and foreign. At the same time, it is ascertained that author's expressions of ideas and images promote Christian ideas, but do not portray canonical ecclesiastical texts. As a result of it the vision of Christian ideas becomes broader, but the distinctions between primary sources and author's interpretations become obliterated. Based on the analysis of modern Ukrainian literature, two trends have been traced: 1) the reception of biblical motifs in the context of the postmodern ironic tradition, which is characterized by skeptical-ironic interpretation of religious motifs and images, outrageousness and carnivalesqueness (inherent in the early works of V. Neborak and the early lyrics of S. Zhadan); 2) the reception of biblical motifs in the context of the existential-philosophical and cultural tradition, the central idea of ​​such a reception is the idea of ​​the importance of faith, humanity in the apocalyptic world of modern reality (in works by S. Zhadan, Yu. Vynnychuk, H. Marchuk).

The perspective of the research can be seen in the study of the work of other Ukrainian writers (in particular, O. Zabuzhko, H. Pahutyak, M. Matios, K. Kalytko, etc.). The research is not exhausted but will be continued within the framework of other publications, which will highlight the peculiarities of Christian imagery in the creative practices of Ukrainian writers of the late 20th and early 21st centuries.