The literature of the 1960s in artistic structures of memory (M. Hrymych's novel “Yura”)
Abstract
One of the main themes in M. Hrymych's novel “Yura” is the literary process of the 1960s in Ukraine. Its artistic reconstruction is important for understanding the problems of national self-preservation in the colonial conditions of the USSR. The article is devoted to the author's understanding of the problem of creativity and self-determination of Ukrainian artists in opposition to Soviet propaganda dependence. The aestheticization of contemporary issues reveals a clear logic in relation to collective and individual memory. Based on the scientific discourse on the “contexts” of memory, the artistic and semantic structures of the narrative about the literature of the 1960s are described. This involves appeals to history, artistic interpretations, authorial myth, places of memory, as well as the concepts of “one's own”, “self-determination”, and “intimacy”.
As a witness to the situation in Kyiv in the 1960s, M. Hrymych brought events to life as they were preserved in individual memory and echoed in collective memory. The embodiment of the idea manifested the concept of “my own” – “my memory”. The understanding of literary life in the 1960s stimulated interpretations with fictional elements that did not violate historical truth and ensured the drama of the plots. The artistic picture clearly shows points of energy, “signals” to national self-respect. The author's myth-making is characterized by a reinterpretation of the fate of famous figures, processes, and phenomena in which they were involved; the delineation of characters through psychologization; proximity to realism; and the use of symbols. The pictures of the writers' lives are full of intimacy, as they are retold from the perspective of bearers of family values. Places of memory associated with literary life in Kyiv in the 1960s are seen as sacred. Recognizing the structures of memory in M. Hrymych's novel “Yura” makes it possible to comprehensively study the artistic possibilities of the text about the past.
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References
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