PRISON AESTHETICS IN IVAN BAGRYAN'S NOVEL “THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE”

Abstract

The article attempts to comprehend the prison aesthetics in Ivan Bahrianyi's novel “The Garden of Gethsemane,” aimed at deconstructing totalitarian discourse and illustrating the distorted moral and ethical paradigm of the Soviet Union. To this end, certain criteria of aesthetics in general are identified, and the author's techniques and means of creating a special artistic space and characters that foster a positive environment for spiritual growth in inhumane conditions are determined.The main character of the novel strives for freedom, but bravely endures imprisonment and the unwritten laws of the prison microsociety. The reader sees the prison through the prism of his perception: clear order, justice, mutual support, and, conversely, immediate punishment for traitors. There is also a deep immersion in prison life (slang, crafts, education, art, games, etc.), which flourishes despite conditions that are completely unsuitable for it. This creates an antinomy between the outwardly ugly but highly spiritual world of prisoners and the attractive but immoral world of guards and investigators. The expected space for the destruction of personality in I. Bahrianyi's work is transformed into a metaphor for spiritual trial and purification through the numerous circles of totalitarian hell.The article highlights the author's interpretation of the prison world, which does not tend to romanticize criminal elements. Moreover, the entire imagery is aimed at demonstrating the absurdity and immorality of the Soviet repressive system, where true intellectuals and representatives of the creative and scientific elite find themselves among “criminals”. Thus, the prison aesthetics in the novel are not a tool for aestheticizing crime or deviance, as is characteristic of criminal subculture, but reflect the author's moral code in conditions of existential terror, serving as a means of interest and a way for the psyche to survive traumatic experiences and realize thanatic intentions. In summary, the novel “The Garden of Gethsemane” is capable of satisfying the demand of part of Ukrainian society for countercultural content without cultivating marginal behavior. Thus, prison aesthetics in I. Bahrianyi's work is a manifestation of an artistic strategy of resistance and a form of deconstruction of the imperial conception of crime and punishment.