ОБРАЗИ НЕБА Й НЕБЕСНИХ СВІТИЛ У НОВЕЛІСТИЦІ ВАСИЛЯ ТКАЧУКА
IMAGES OF THE SKY AND CELESTIAL OBJECTS IN VASYL TKACHUK’S SHORT STORIES

Summary/Abstract: Images of the sky and celestial bodies – sun, moon, stars – play an important role in the works of the little-explored Ukrainian writer from the 1930s, Vasyl Tkachuk. They are the result of Tkachuk’s combining both folk-poetic elements and original ones in his short stories. Above all, the images of the sky, the sun, the moon, and the stars in his texts are an integral part of the landscape of Hutsulshchyna and Pokuttia, functioning as components of the Hutsul landscape discourse but also as a part of the boundless cosmic space. The writer appears here as a master of drawing the picturesque landscapes of Hutsulshchyna and Pokuttia, where he was born and raised. In addition, the celestial space in Tkachuk’s works is an inseparable element of the lives of the Carpathian highlanders. Its elements accompany the characters in their daily joys and sorrows and thus become an integral part of their existence and beliefs. Finally, images of the sky and celestial bodies are an important factor in forming the plot and thus constitute a key element in the construction of individual writings by this Pokuttian writer. The highly original personified images, anthropomorphized comparisons, and authorial metaphors (which include the analyzed images of the sky, sun, moon, and stars) deserve special attention. Taken as a whole, the individual images of celestial space in Tkachuk’s works are part of the highly original tradition of novelistic discourse aptly described by Tkachuk’s contempo- raries as “poetry in prose” (along with the concepts of “chichka”, “wind’ and “storm” analyzed earlier). In addition, the individualized images of the sky, sun, moon and stars have become an important component of Tkachuk’s conceptual model of the world. They also co-create a philosophy of nature and confirm the writer’s deep respect, attachment, and undying love for Hutsulshchyna, Pokuttia, and his native Ukraine.

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