REPRESENTATION OF THE HERO-WARRIORʼS IMAGE
IN UKRAINIAN SOCIALIST REALISM LITERATURE Cover Image

РЕПРЕЗЕНТАЦІЯ ОБРАЗУ ГЕРОЯ-ВОЇНА В УКРАЇНСЬКІЙ СОЦРЕАЛІСТИЧНІЙ ЛІТЕРАТУРІ
REPRESENTATION OF THE HERO-WARRIORʼS IMAGE IN UKRAINIAN SOCIALIST REALISM LITERATURE

Author(s): Ulyana Fedoriv
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies
Published by: Uniwersytet Adama Mickiewicza
Keywords: socialist realism; socialist realism canon; ideology; hero-warrior; “new manˮ

Summary/Abstract: The article is devoted to the research of socialist realism canon in Ukrainian literature.This canon is considered an artificially modeled power project in the sphere of culture and literaturewhich aimed at creating a monostylistic system with clearly defined rules and recommended schemes,especially including thought-out characters understandable for the mass Soviet reader in order to monopolizepower at all levels and to establish a new Soviet identity (“homo sovieticusˮ). The socialistrealism canon is a complex and heterogeneous phenomenon. It imposed patterns for analysing andreflecting on reality in art and culture. From the 1930s, any texts following the authorities’ regulationsacquired a typical structure, predictable and recognizable features that turned literature intoa mass-produced uniform “artistic” product. The task of such a governmental experiment was bothto transform the world, and to change the way reality was perceived. The aesthetized falsification ofexistence, the clear domination of everything “ideological” and “totalitarian” in the field of culture,shaping the socialist realistic theory as a process of politicizing artistic consciousness - these are theblocks that determined the formation and functioning of the socialist realism canon of Ukrainianliterature. The publication reflects a new vision of the problem of the literary representation of theSoviet Pantheon of Heroes in the socialist realism texts, in particular novels by Natan Rybak, YuriiZbanatskyi, Oles Honchar, Andrii Malyshko, Natalia Zabila etc. Basically, the idea is that in order tobuild a bright future the Soviet system needed a new man, so all the forces were thrown into the “newanthropological typeˮ. The article deals with the modeling role of the hero-warrior in the socialist realismtext. This image was established in the mass consciousness by means of propaganda and agitation.

  • Issue Year: 8/2020
  • Issue No: 02
  • Page Range: 107-117
  • Page Count: 11
  • Language: Ukrainian