THE ARTISTIC WORLD OF PETER KRALIUK’S STORY “DIOPTRA, OR A MIRROR, IN WHICH WE SEE NOT ONLY OURSELVES, BUT ALSO OTHERS, TRAVELING IN TIME AND SPACE”

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the artistic world of the story “Dioptra” by the modern Ukrainian writer and philosopher Petro Kraliuk. In this regard, the author joins those literary critics who solve the problem of the essence of such a category as “the artistic world”. An approach is proposed, which consists in focusing attention on paratextuality as one of the levels of the artistic world of the work. Hence the research method: a structural‑systemic approach, which involves considering the paratext as one of the levels of the artistic system of the work. The article presents in detail the results of the study of the semantics of the title of the story, the epigraph, as well as the names of individual chapters of the work, their essence and role in the artistic system of the entire work. This approach made it possible to establish a connection between the paratext and the genre, issues, composition and system of motives in the story. Their connection is motivated by the fact that each of these levels of the work is determined by the author’s concept of the relationship between a thinking person and the environment, both secular and ecclesiastical. Considering that from the point of view of the genre, “Dioptra” by Petro Kraliuk can be considered a historical story (among the central characters of the work, each of whom is dedicated to a separate chapter, – are thinkers Meletius Smotrytsky, Cassian Sakowicz, Kyrylo Stavrovetsky‑Tranquillon), the echo acquires special importance of the past and the present (it turns out that the problems solved by the heroes become relevant for the hero‑narrator, scientist, researcher of literature of the past, as well as his contemporaries). Dialogue is needed by the hero‑narrator in order not only to better understand the figure and legacy of Meletius Smotrytsky, but also, and this is the main thing, to solve his own moral problems. Thus, visiting different parts of the Volyn region can be interpreted as a path to oneself, to self-identification. It is the focus of the recipient’s attention on the concept of “path” that justifies the division of the story into parts, and thus, such an element of the paratext as the titles of each of the chapters. Hence the conclusion about the story “Dioptra” as an artistic system, the levels of which are closely connected, and the paratext level as one of the components of the artistic world of Petro Kraliuk’s work.