Агіографічна спадщина у сучасній українській історичній прозі

Abstract

The paper researches the problem of renew of the hagiographic motives in modern Ukrainian historical prose. The creation of national hero is the main sphere where hagiographic elements are the most useful. The narratives about national military heroes is a part of national mythology, an element, each nation is impossible to imagine. It is well known that national heroes are made of elements of ancient heroes and romantic characters. In Eastern European – and also Ukraіnian – context the elements of life of the saints become a part of character of the national hero. The reason of this special feature of Ukrainian national hero lies in the historical background. The main characters of historical novel of Oksana Zabuzhko The Museum of Abandoned Secrets are represented as national heroes and martyrs, who died in the sake of Ukrainian independence. They are also described in iconic way. The researched novel opened a new perspective of representation of Ukrainian national heroes. They become less unreachable and more close to people. Their heroism was just a result of their self‑esteem, their dignity, conscious values and definite priorities. Zabuzhko’s heroes fight for their dignity and for the right to be who they are. This type of heroism is possible and opened for everyone. Another type of national hero is the cultural hero. Ukrainian traditional culture considers the writer as a soldier on the another field of fight, the cultural field. Hundreds of years Ukrainian writers were oppressed and murdered because of their national identity, their language, their writings. This background made possible to represent writers as insurgents against the enemy power and to use the same hero narratives to describe them. Modern Ukrainian writers are represented as romantic heroes and their life are described as a life of saints. This type of narrative has not much success among readers because of its old‑fashioned style. The only exception is the trilogy of Stepan Protsiuk about Ukrainian writers Vasyl Stefanyk, Volodymyr Vynnytchenko and Arkhyp Teslenko. Those novels also represent writers as national heroes and almost like saints but the author adds his own mythology based on a psychoanalysis. This makes novels of Stepan Protsiuk more interesting for modern readers. The last type of narrative where the hagiographic motives are used is the emigrant narrative. The emigration is represented as personal disaster. The life in a new cultural and language space is a mental challenge for.