THE UKRAINIANNESS OF THE ARTISTIC WORLD OF MARKO VOVCHOK'S «FOLK TALES»

Abstract

The artistic world is a powerful tool of the influence on the reader, which means that it is a component of the poetics of the literary work. Its originality is determined by the features of the author's artistic thinking, his/her worldview (world understanding, world perception). For this reason in the paper a great attention is paid to the features of the writer's artistic talent. Linguistic talent allowed Marko Vovchok to successfully use the expressive and pictorial possibilities of the Ukrainian language. A deep and subtle sense of the language determined the special ability of the writer to penetrate into the soul of the people, their mentality, helped to understand their way of life, their customs and moral principles. This explains Marko Vovchok's ability to create archetypal images. The talent of the writer was also revealed in the fact that the phenomena and objects depicted by the writer evoke in the reader's imagination visual images imbued with an artistic and aesthetic emotion, which can rightly be called “artistic meaning”. For the first time in our literary studies, the paper deals with the artistic world of Marko Vovchok's «Folk Tales» as a coherent, systematically organized phenomenon. It is emphasized that this world is full of distinct Ukrainian flavor. If previously “Folk Tales” were considered mainly from the aspect of their anti-serfdom orientation, then the analysis of the artistic world of the short stories, their distinct Ukrainian flavor allows us to reveal another factor of the high artistic value of this prominent book by the outstanding Ukrainian writer. The magnificent Ukrainian nature, harmonious relationships in the Ukrainian family, the beauty and upbringing of Ukrainian girls, the Cossack character of Ukrainian men – all these are significant features of the characteristics of our nation, its mentality. In the paper, much attention is paid to the peculiarities of the writer's artistic talent.