National human worldview through the prism of psychology (in the literature of the end of XIX - the beginning of XX century)

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Odessa State Academy of Technical Regulations And Quality

National human worldview through the prism of psychology (in the literature of the end of XIX - the beginning of XX century)

Virych N.V

The article presents an attempt to trace the peculiarities of the artistic explication of the socio- psychological aspect in the works of O. Kobylianska, the author analyzes the functions and the role of figurative and expressive symbolic means in revealing the psychology of the characters ' nature and deepens the comprehension of the writer's literary skills. It was found out that the writer represented various manifestations of synthesis in her own artistic thinking.

Key words: symbol, archetype, mentality, nation, artistic images.

Національний світогляд людини крізь призму психології (у літературі кінця ХІХ - початку ХХ ст.)

Ключові слова: символ, архетип, ментальність, нація, художні образи.

Национальное мировоззрение человека сквозь призму психологии (в литературе конца XIX - начала ХХ в.)

social psychological kobylyanska

Introduction

Problem statement. Each epoch forms its own specific picture of the world. In the field of literature studies today, it is urgent to study the aesthetic concept of man and reality, which includes a system of philosophical views of the writer. Significant interest in this perspective is caused by the works of the famous Ukrainian writer of the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century Olha Kobylianska, who has been written about a lot both in domestic and foreign literature criticism. And yet, despite a considerable amount of critical literature (in particular, these are the works by O. Babyshkin, V. Vozniuk, N. Tomashuk, I. Denysiuk, P. Pylypovych et al., which focused on the versatility of genres, problems, subjects and some aspects of poetics), the writer's creative efforts have remained inexhaustible for research, especially in the period when works of many writers actualize the problem of human self-awareness, awareness of their life values and aspirations.

Objective statement

The aim of the given pilot study is to study the peculiarities of the artistic explication of the socio-psychological aspect in the works of O. Kobylianska.

The realization of this goal involves solving the following tasks:

- to find out the functions and role of figurative and expressive symbolic means for revealing the psychology of characters' nature;

- to deepen the comprehension of the writer's artistic skills.

Main body

“The symbol is a substantive or a verbal sign, which indirectly expresses the essence of a certain phenomenon, has a philosophical semantic content <...> The symbol appears as a process of active transformation of the internal to the external and, conversely, the difference between the internal and external” [6, p. 621- 622].

Like any symbol, the archetypal image of the land is multilayered, and, as the projection of an archetype onto a concrete picture of the world, it can have numerous interpretations. Since archetypes are “innate mental structures, concentrated in the depths of the “collective unconscious”, which lay the foundations of specifically national as well as universal human symbols” [6, p. 74], they are “... a product of the historical and cultural path of the given society, which embodies, in particular, the climatic, geographical, and landscape life conditions of peoples who have been living on a certain territory...” [2, p. 74]. In this respect, it seems reasonable to treat the archetype of the land as a source of naturalness, truth, as a realm that has preserved the not-false folk's soul and folk's nature.

The archetype of the land is traditional for Ukrainian literature, because it is the bread cultivating labor which forms the basis of Ukrainian mentality, thus, providing the interrelationships between people and land. Studying the works of O. Kobylianska, one can notice that the image of the land, nature in general, is cross-cutting in her works. Even the very name of the novel “The Land” points out that the main character here is the land: in its different moods, in colors, in different seasons and in certain life circumstances. Analyzing the aforementioned novel, from the very beginning we are tracing the landscape picture of the “great forest”: “That great forest... A magnificent, almost limitless giant, as if on a journey, stayed here and pondered over the quiet fields <...>, and not far away, the rural huts rose up having heard the green guardian...” [5, p. 7]. And the following words: “The forest belongs to pans. The property is private” [5, p. 7], indicating the cause of all those events occurring in the village. Private ownership of the land (and the forest) determines the relationship between peasants, their psychology, and, consequently, their behavior and deeds. According to P. Fylypovych, it was the problem of the land that made the writer depict peasants' “abyss of soul”, since their fate depended on the presence or absence of the land [9]. Let us recall an epigraph to the novel: “There is a certain abyss around us, which was dug by destiny, but here, in our hearts, the abyss is the deepest”[5, p. 7]. On the one hand, this quote evokes mystery, and fanaticism. However, after reading this socio-psychological novel, we share the opinion (of numerous critics, in particular, N. Tomashuk, O. Baby- shkin, M. Leshchenko, V. Vozniuk, F. Pohrebennyk et al.) that the writer provides a deep analysis of the social tragedy in the village, the cause of which is the power of the land over peasants and its consequences. We shall add that depicting the events in the countryside realistically, the writer resorts to new artistic means, as was often pointed out by I. Franko. Prophetic dreams, foreshadowing, divination, intuition, mysterious signs of disaster are scattered throughout the novel. This is another proof that the writer of the “new generation” uses an impressionist and symbolic way of reproducing reality. As I. Izotov notes, O. Kobylianska artistically reproduces this psychological “abyss” in the same sense as Maurice Maeterlinck in the well-known work “The Treasure of The Humble”, where “a whole peculiar philosophy of the subconscious” develops. This method is inherent in impressionism” [3, p. 2].

All the characters in the novel are somewhat related to the land. “We are the people who know only the land,” says Ivonica. Sawa claims: “It is only the land to think about, only the land. Anything else doesn't matter to me” [5]. In order to have the land, he commits a terrible crime - kills his brother. All conflict situations are conditioned by the land: Ivo- nika and his wife, Mariika, respect their eldest son, Mykhailo, because he loves the land and works there energetically. They do not have such a feeling towards their younger son, Sava, because he treats the land lightheartedly, is lazy and does not want to cultivate it honestly. Rakhira is landless, besides, she is a blood relative, so parents do not do not allow Sava to marry her. Mariika evicts Anna with a small child, whose father was Mykhailo, from the house, because the mercinary does not have any land. Dokiia Chopiak marries her only daughter, Parasynka, to the unloved Todoryk Zhemchuk, because his relatives have a lot of land and he will become once a wealthy owner.

Thus, all actions of the novel's characters are conditioned by their views on the land and the property. The image of the land is the central, cut-crossing, symbolic image. The land can be affectionate, kind and angry, it provides people with abundance, or requires a victim, its state symbolizes events, fate, mood of characters.

The writer's attention is focused on revealing the mood, feelings and actions of both the land as a living being, and the characters of the novel. It looks like the “mood” of the land is transformed into the mood of the novel's characters. The artistic penetration of O. Kobylianska into the psychology of the land is subtle and profound, as well as in the psychology of Ivonika, Mariika, Mykhailo, Sava, Rakhira and other peasants. These moods and feelings are growing and falling like waves. Thus, the writer refracts socio-economic processes and events through the characters' psychology and feelings. That is, it is not the plot, not the interaction of the characters that become the main focus, but the moods of the characters, embodied in individual episodes and scenes. Depicting certain scenes in details, it can be reasonably said that all the characters of the novel are confessing to the land. The novel constructed in this way, has its dramatic collision, which causes a great interest for the recipient. This is a clash of moods and feelings, which, in fact, reveal the characters' positions, their views, and, finally, their moral and ethical essence as a person.

Giving preference to depicting the inner world of the characters, O. Kobylianska could not do without some quick, rough, sketched outer characteristics. The peasants living on land, fused in spirit and flesh with this land, could not appear before the reader as ephemeral, invisible beings. Therefore, the writer is very brief, laconic, but extremely expressive when complementing their inner characteristics with the outer ones, using herewith one of her favorite techniques - a colouristic detail. These are primarily the details with which the writer intended to depict the characters' inner world.

The most commonly used in the novel detail is the eyes. Mariika's look is “soft, usually deep and zealous, in a smile - gentle and beautiful” [5]. It emphasizes the woman's character: good and gentle. Ivonika's eyes are “the mirror of the very goodness of heart and virtue” [5]. Anna had “quiet shining eyes”, Rakhira - “black round eyes, big, unbridled” [5], “unscathed eyes sparked with evil”. Sava had “an unceasingly lost look that had something freezing and restless” [5]; his eyes “blinked like steel”; the sight was “cold, like a knife”; the eyes had a “strange phosphoric shine”. The author complements the psychological portrait of Sava with the words “the game of his eyes was unconscious”. These details of Sava's portrait determine the most characteristic features: this look can belong to a predatory and insincere man with dishonest intentions. Mykhailo is a soft, kind, honest fellow, “so much anxiety and sincerity his touched kind eyes showed” to Anna. Ivon- ika and Mykhailo love the land, love to work there, so such a short and concise detail as “black”, “iron” hands of Ivonika and “strong, iron hands”, “black and hard” hands of Mykhailo are so important.

Significant role in the characterization of protagonists belongs to the psychological portrait details. For example, guest worker Petro “is naturally intelligent, nimble, soft in heart like a child, and when working was like a fire” [5]. Physically strong, healthy “like an oak”. He spoke “loudly and resonantly”, “his voice emitted heroic fearlessness and courage”. This is a psychological portrait of the peasant Petro. Even the comparison of Petro with an oak has a symbolic meaning: strength, endurance, longevity, nobility.

The wrath of nature of human passions, moods, emotions had to be structured, to be given the integrity, without which a complete and finished artistic work is impossible. The artistic vision suggested O. Kobylianska that all these violent waves of emotions, sentiments, tempers were resting on some ground, a foundation, on something subtantive, opposing the ideal. It is clear that such a ground is the land, the nature, the surrounding world. They are not only the cementing basis of the entire poetic system of the work, but, as already mentioned, an important associative and symbolic image, which generalized, summed up all the ideological construction ofthe work.

In our opinion, it is necessary to follow the figurative and expressive images of the land and the forest. In particular, let us recall the episode: it was winter, “the fields and the pasture land lay covered with a rough layer of snow, and day by day the sun shone on its golden-red light surface, raised the luster, crystal flicker on it and made the eye unwittingly follow the dark point on which it would rest from a unanimous, dazzling, far-wide white area around it” [5, p. 127]. And further: “Like a frozen sea, the land stretched from the noon to the west, and only on its other side there was a dark forest. A mighty, stretched mass that travelling from far lands as a large space, stayed here to examine the flawless surface...” [5, p. 152]. And although the land was resting in a winter sleep, the nature in these extracts is full of life and movement. The landscape is presented through the perception of the lyrical character and built on the interaction of sensory impressions, written in the context of a peculiar symphony in colour.

And here is the landscape picture of early spring, which was observed by Sava, who was indifferent to the land and work on it: “The land lay black and naked, as far as the eye reached, as far where the sky fluttered...” [5]. In this context, the colour acquires a symbolic meaning.

Mykhailo, the eldest son of Fedorchuk, is quite opposite in his nature to Sava. He is a worthy successor of the parental tradition in the household, hard-working, gentle, with a subtle feeling of the nature's beauty: “It was in May <...> Mykhailo lay near the dugout in the garden which ended in a shallow forest <...> There was silence around. But not that dead silence that reigns in winter over a wide expanse.

Here life was flaunting wherever you looked. The lawns with the bread grew up, the clovers blossomed, the cute smell of the flowers of the hay played in the air, the insects, the butterflies, the bees swarmed, and high, not visible, under the blue sky, the larks were spreading in small, delightful pearls... A slightly noticed buzz of the bees was playing here, in silence, its peculiar, extremely gentle music, which was transferred by the air with dusty waves from place to place, bypassing only flowerless strands of the land...” [5, p. 201]. Here we observe the writer's ability to give the highest example of what can be done by specifically-sensory image. Nature in the work acts as a symbol of eternal immortal beauty, a source of soothing and joy. The landscape is presented through the character's perception. Artistic penetration of the writer is deep and delicate.

Picturesque images of nature come alive significantly when they enter the musical sphere. Then the work gains its expressiveness and plastic. Such a figurative, picturesque secret, which acted in close connection with the music, was perfectly mastered by the Bukovinian writer when she created her landscape pictures. Nature in the works of O. Kobylianska corresponds simultaneously to the physical and spiritual principle in man. It gives her an opportunity to feel the beauty of life, joy and strength. Landscape for the writer is, in our opinion, crucial: it is a world of deep emotions. And this world is double. On the one hand, the writer emphasizes that the nature is necessary for a person to preserve freedom since it increases the in-depth power of personality, brings a breath of poetry. And on the other hand, by stimulating the imagination and inclination for reflection, the nature is one of the “sculptors” of human majesty.

Similarly to the image of the land, O. Kobylian- ska creates another significant symbolic image of the “neighboring forest”: “That great forest... A magnificent, almost limitless giant, as if on a journey, stayed here and pondered over the quiet fields... Slender soft birches interwoven with respectable oaks and clear, summer nights shine as if dressed in silver. Their leaves are trembling uneasily, and graceful, slightly curved stumps are luring to themselves with tenderness and whites like mermaids” [5, p. 7]. The writer achieves the musicality of the landscape by lyricism, melody, coherence, which merges with the nightly moon silence, barely noticed, slow rhythms, generated by the words “fell in thoughts”, “intertwined”, “is shaking”, “are luring”, associated with sound impressions. It is actually a musical nocturne. As far as the skills of the synthesis of artistic words and sound and visual impressions, which are called by M. Mashenko “musical painting” [7], are concerned, O. Kobylian- ska was an innovator in Ukrainian literature.

“Neighboring forest” is a symbol of oppression and abuse, it is waiting for the victim: “He was lying covered in darkness and waiting. As if he had already said to himself: “Come and take what you need! What happens in the woods is not a sin!” [5, p. 167]. When Mykhailo was killed “The moon lit up, smoldering, dug out into the depth first, and following him did the others moving to the same star.

Dressed up in all the shine of silver, they seemed to be trembling with some kind of touch, and, when trembling, shimmered with all the riches of their splendor to a quiet land. The quiet depth of the heavens dressed all its miraculous beauty” [5, p. 181]. And finally, when Mykhailo was buried, “the forest lay delighted, and the stars were finely silver, as if they were smiling. Above the forest appeared a blue-transparent haze” [5, p. 202].

Thus, we see that landscape associative and symbolic structures perform the function of protagonists' characterization, convey their various mental states, create mood associations.

Conclusions

An archetypal image of the land is formed on the basis of the style variety (both realistic and romantic) and includes a very wide range of motifs. The peculiarity of the writer's artistic manner is symbolism, which leads to careful attention to landscapes, the nature, which are closely interwoven with the reflected events of reality, nature of the characters and the sensual orientation of the works.

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