"WARS OF MEMORIES" IN MARINA HRYMYCH'S NOVEL LARA

Abstract

The article is devoted to the artistic comprehension of the "wars of memories" in the context of the Soviet past. The researcher focuses on the novel Lara by Maryna Hrymych. The ideological and aesthetic expression of the problem is analysed on the basis of theories of post-totalitarian memory. The author traces the sequential process of memory transformation: trauma – therapy – recovery. The writer's ability to reproduce the reactions of her characters to the totalitarian past is revealed: the pain of learning about forgotten tragedies, acceptance of the terrible truth, and self-assertion of dignity. The author describes the confrontation of views on the experience through nostalgia for the Soviet heritage (devotion to false narratives) and anti-nostalgia (the desire for progressive ideas). The characterisation of the characters and the specific background of events are described in comparison with M. Hrymych's novels "Klavka" and "Yura", which are related to "Lara" by the theme and plot. It is noted that in the previous texts the author focused more on the everyday life of society, and in the third book she uncompromisingly exposed the terrible crimes of the totalitarian past, showing the difficult path of searching for the truth. The essence of overcoming the global national trauma is contained within a single family or circle of friends, where forgetfulness has hidden the worst thing – living in a common environment of executioners and victims. It is noted that the time of events in the novel is of great importance – the year of the Chernobyl tragedy, when the collapse of the USSR became irreversible. During this period, an open confrontation between totalitarian and anti-totalitarian memories began. The generational cut in the "wars of memories" was also revealed: Klavka (older generation) consciously undergoes complex but necessary memory therapy; Yura and Anife (middle generation) live through the mistakes of their parents and seek their own path to the truth; Lara (younger generation) separates herself from Soviet existence and seeks change.