MEMORY MODELS IN THE NOVEL "ECHO" BY LARYSA DENYSENKO ; МОДЕЛІ ПАМ'ЯТІ У РОМАНІ ЛАРИСИ ДЕНИСЕНКО «ВІДЛУННЯ»

Abstract

The article deals with to the analysis of artistic models of memory in contemporary Ukrainian literature on the example of the novel "Echo" by Larysa Denysenko. The author describes the events of World War II in an unusual way: through the prism of the 21st century from the standpoint of the defeated people. The artistic form of the novel seeks to destroy the stereotypical image of the German, showing them through the prism of national trauma caused by events that are still unconscious collective experience, and therefore do not belong to the former, but are still in the paradigm of modernity. The research focuses on clarification of collective strategies for the reception of traumatic events of the past, which are carried by the characters of the novel. Models of memory are polyphonic and outlined through the number of major strategies for dealing with the events of World War II. They are as follows: to distance oneself from the past, as history can harm future generations; to accept historical facts and to abandon the socially constructed model of all-German guilt committed by the fascist party; history should be turned into culture, because only such a memory can be constructive, while real history produces social conflicts; to forgive – because all people were victims of the political system; forget the history and focus on the present; find out the truth about past events; identify the war criminals and punish them. The protagonist demonstrates a position of personal involvement in history, cultivating a sense of responsibility for the war crimes of the older generation, which are to be paid for, that is, World War II forms guilt as a model of behavior of the generation of grandchildren. This narrative aims to recode the socio-cultural reception of war from heroic to traumatic and to remove the "Friend or Foe" diachrony by socializing the private experience. Accordingly, the cultural construction of memory through the construction of a memorial as a symbolic sign of reconciliation takes place. It is worth ...