Біблійні мотиви в романі Валентина Терлецького «В.І.Н.»

Abstract

The article examines the text-forming role of biblical images-symbols in Valentyn Terletsky's novel «V.I.N.». The analysis of the text reveals the peculiarities of the poetics, the creative personality of the author. It is stated that the writer actively uses biblical symbols and motifs in his novel that allow him to go beyond the scope of the investigative detective. The presence of Christian motifs in the work increases the number of possible interpretations, enables to depart from its literal explanation and gives the reader the opportunity to speculate events. The very title of the work contains hints of biblical parallels. In this way, the author creates a multidimensional space in which reality receives philosophical and religious reflection. Numbered symbols, which are endowed with biblical semantic connotations, also contribute to this. The article focuses on the fact that the life of the characters of the novel is «related» to such numbers as ten (the symbol of the beginning and the end of the case), forty (related to the completeness of the trials, a turning point in human life) and more. Special attention is drawn to the main character's sleep. It is known that dreaming is a technique often used in fiction. Sleep becomes a source of thoughts and analogies. It contributes to the decoding of the novel and the use of such a symbol as a circle that most readers perceive as an element that has magical protective content. In the novel this symbol is polysemantic, and the characters try to break the circle in order to «find» themselves, to play their vital role. It is stated that the work can draw clear parallels between the protagonist of the novel (He) and Jesus Christ, but such a comparison is rather conditional, since the focus of the writer is not «action», but the spiritual beginning of his characters. The use of biblical allusions in the novel enhances the meaning of the story. It helps to understand the characters who are trying to find themselves, to understand themselves, to believe in themselves. The investigation into the disappearance of the main character leads to an unexpected open finale, where everyone has a chance to be «reborn» to become themselves. It can be stated that the use of biblical symbols and motifs by the writer is characterized by freedom and flexibility. The biblical images in the work are ambivalent. In the novel «V.I.N.», Valentyn Terletsky abstracts biblical motifs and images from their theological understanding, that makes them universal. This enables to reveal writer's interest in Christianity solely as an aesthetic concept.