“FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT”: CONTEMPORARY UKRAINIAN WAR TALES BY UKRAINIAN AUTHORS (INTERPRETATIONS)

Abstract

The article emphasises that a literary fairy tale is a special genre that can combine elements of folklore and literary works. It is noted that, given certain social events, the author’s fairy tale acquires a new, extremely relevant issue. The problems that are reflected in today’s society become topical: the themes of the Maidan, the Revolution of Dignity, and the war. It is indicated that in the texts of contemporary Ukrainian fairy tales we have themes related to the comprehension of the realities of war in the children’s mind. The author’s texts of Ukrainian fairy tales are analysed: “A modern fairy tale about the war “Ukrainka”. How to explain to a child about the war in Ukraine, “Kitsyunya”. A true tale about the war written by Olha Miroshnychenko’s children, an audio story about the war by Olenka Namalyuy “Htus and Darkness”, Bird of Steel, an incredible tale about the heroic strength of a Ukrainian girl, Katya, by Iryna Matsko. The texts of these fairy tales have been posted on the YouTube platform throughout 2022. The problems of universal and substantive significance are considered – the axiological values of human life, the human desire for happiness, Victory, the ethical antinomy of light and darkness, betrayal and loyalty, the power of the human spirit – become a harmonious spiritual component of the artistic world of these fairy tales. The motives of contemporary Ukrainian fairy tales on the topic of war are revealed. The characters of fairy tale narratives are characterised. Important plotting elements in fairy tales are highlighted. The specifics of the influence of modern problems of time on the creation of the poetics of chronotope are outlined. It is noted that the uniqueness of the figurative world of a literary fairy tale arises as a result of the genre synthesis of folk-tale poetics and individually creative artistic segments in the architectonics of the literary genre. The dominant axiological concept of the ancient folklore form of the struggle between good and evil (darkness and light) is subject to the author’s interpretations.