Philosophy of life in Volodymyr Yermolenko’s novel The Ocean Catcher: The Story of Odysseus through the prism of opposition: stylistic and syntactic aspects

Abstract

Opposition is one of the defining stylistic and syntactic devices of narrative development in Volodymyr Yermolenko’s novel The Ocean Catcher: The Story of Odysseus. Contexts involving opposition in this work are characterized by philosophical depth and diverse structures; however, they have not yet been the subject of systematic study, which determines the relevance of their linguistic investigation. The purpose of this study is to identify the features of the verbalization of oppositions and their functions in the language of the novel. Opposition serves as a significant semantic and constructive element in the language of the analyzed work. The extremely active use of opposition is driven by the protagonist’s re-evaluation of the realities of life. A distinct triad emerges: re-evaluation – return – opposition as a component of revelation. Oppositional constructions, varying in structure and lexical content, convey the internal reflections of the characters, primarily Odysseus and his critical assessment of his own behavior and the actions of those around him. Quite often, antitheses are based on antonyms located either adjacently or distantly. In the text of the novel, opposition with the conjunction but (ale) is a frequent device for organizing not only compound sentences but also supra-phrasal units. The latter are sometimes linked by oppositions acting as a refrain. The author strengthens the text-forming weight of opposition through the use of separate paragraphs for supra-phrasal units, parceling, and punctuation highlighting. Oppositional semantics are further enhanced by syntactic parallelism, repetition, chiasmus, and refrains. Most often, contrast is combined with negation, which also constitutes a specific feature of the narrative in this novel. The author employs rhetorical devices to amplify antithetical thought. Multi-component oppositions are noted for their expressiveness. Antithesis frequently serves to create aphoristic statements within the language of the novel. Thus, constructions with opposition serve to create expressive micro-images of the literary work and act as components of its compositional organization.