THE IMAGE OF A LYRICAL HERO IN THE POETRY COLLECTION “ANTENA” BY SERGII ZHADAN

Abstract

The article analyzes for the first time the image of a lyrical hero in the poetic collection “Antenna” by S. Zhadan in the context of military themes. The latter testifies to his evolution: from a postmodernist-ironist to an artist-philosopher. The war narrative of “Antenna” is permeated with existential thoughts about life and death, about difficult but humane human relationships in a difficult era of crisis historical events. The poetic texts of the collection are united by the symbolic image of an antenna, which snatches from native spaces the most important thing - “rhythm and forgiveness”, and above them ‒ “the symphonic music of March”. It is the antenna as a sensitive repeater that determines the scale and multidimensionality of the artistic world in the poetry collection of the same name. Several perspectives of the author's perspective organically coexist in it: tragic (from bitter tonality to psychological rupture); allegorical-symbolic (strengthened in the collection); grotesque-ironic (through fragments of grassroots lyrics). S. Zhadan demonstrates a tendency towards extended narrative, a temperamental conversation with the world, and sometimes recitativeness, reminiscent of the melody of Ukrainian folk dumas. The basic binary opposition of life and death in “Antenna” is masterfully realized through biblical images that state the author's idea of eternity. In the collection “Antenna”, S. Zhadan creates a special existential space of Ukraine, primarily the Ukrainian East, which found itself under enemy occupation. Here we hear the pain of the homeland, longing for the fallen soldiers, and compassion for the refugees. The author interprets war as an apocalyptic phenomenon due to the motifs of “expulsion from paradise” and the loss of the “promised land.” The lyrical hero is multidimensional and holistic at the same time: on the one hand, an eternal traveler, lonely and alienated, on the other, a Ukrainian patriot who appeals to his contemporaries, synthesizing the signs of the national, social, and spiritual existence of the era. This allows us to determine the originality of the work of the iconic S. Zhadan in the Ukrainian literary process of the 21st century.