Семантика часу у драматургії Лесі Українки

Abstract

The article examines the understanding of the category of time by modernist philosophy and art and its representation in artistic texts. For the first time the ancient Greeks turned to the development of the category of time in different planes - philosophical, artistic, aesthetic. The philosophy of modernity rethinks the category of time and creates two models of time in culture and art. Both models have their own system of images and metaphorical language. This enriches the semantics of time. We distinguish two models of time proposed by modernist art. The first model describes metaphysical and real time by using the concepts of eternity and the moment and offering two mythological images: Kronos, as the embodiment of universal, abstract time, and Kairos, which symbolises a specific time, each moment of human life. Metaphysical time is embodied in the images of the seasons (summer, winter, spring), of the day (day, night), of all that has a tendency to constant recurrence and existence. Real time includes that which cannot recur (moments, periods of human life, years). The first model of time works with numerous images of eternal youth and the ephemerality of life. The second model of time is linear / historical and cyclical / mythological time. Mythological time is viewed through the idea of eternal rebirth or reincarnation, which is inspired by Eastern philosophy. The dramatic work of Lesya Ukrainka, a leading representative of early Ukrainian modernism, is no exception in terms of the new approach to the category of time. The concept of time in Lesya Ukrainka's dramaturgy is considered according to the philosophical and aesthetic paradigm of early European modernism. The author turns to both models of time and offers her own semantic solutions. The time models are distributed as follows: linear / historical time is present in texts on the cultural history of mankind (“Three Minutes”, “Boyarynia”, “Rufin and Priscilla”), while cyclical / mythological time is inherent in dramatic works based on mythological plots (“Forest Song”, “Captivity of Babylon”, “Cassandra”). The writer also considers the concepts of memory and eternity in time-related models. The memory that lives in future generations becomes a sign of eternity. At the same time, the concept of eternity, despite belonging to universal time, also contains the semantics of rebirth, of the eternal circle of birth – death – return.