UKRAINIZATION IDEOLOGY IN V. PIGMOHYLNY’S NOVEL “THE CITY”: CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Abstract

The article presents a critical analysis of the ideological presuppositions in the novel «The City» by Valerian Pidmohylny. The research is conducted useing the elements of critical discourse analysis. The choice of the method of critical discourse analysis is determined by the specific subject of the study – the ideology of Ukrainization, which, although not the central theme of the work, is skillfully integrated by Valerian Pidmohylny, a leading Ukrainian writer of the 20–30s of the 20th century, into the text of the novel and is relevant for preserving the national identity of Ukrainians in the 21st century during Russia's war against Ukraine. The analysis of key semantic macropropositions of the novel has shown that the theme of Ukrainization is pervasive for other basic ideologies of the novel and is intentionally highlighted by the author, without unnecessary pathos but with a deep understanding of its critical impact on the formation of the Ukrainian intellectual elite and its resistance to Soviet “red educators”. The main result of the research is the proposed conceptual scheme for understanding the ideology of Ukrainization, which involves mastering the standards of the Ukrainian language, Ukrainian-language education, an attractive external appearance of a Ukrainian, and Ukrainization as a theme in the literary works of Ukrainian writers. Despite the fact that the main character of the novel, Stepan Radchenko, enters into internal conflict with the author of the novel, as he fails to become an exemplary embodiment of Ukrainization, the author himself – Valerian Pidmohylny – clearly outlines significant aspects of Ukrainization that remain relevant to our time.