MODERN INTENTIONS IN THE LESIA UKRAINKA’S DRAMA «CASSANDRA»

Abstract

It is clarified in the article, that in the drama «Cassandra» Lesia Ukrainka pays considerable attention to language and demonstrates its two defining forms and functional paradigms. One is a profound language that appeals to the essential components of being; it makes us aware of these essences. It is the language that reflects human existence in all its sharpness and fullness of its appearance. It reflects clear moral distinctions between what is good and what is bad. This language is complex and difficult to understand, but it is the only genuine language in the age of modernism. It creates the world and also shows a person who he or she really is, what his or her destiny is, and to what extent a person has been able to fulfill his or her vocation. This language manifests itself mostly in poetry. Another language is superficial, it appeals not to the depths of life and universal categories, but to the temporary human needs and aspirations. Its task is to identify ways and means to achieve the desired goal. This language is manipulative because speakers tend to hide their personal interests under allegations of the common good. It has become extremely widespread in contemporary mass media. Thanks to this language, various fake news and information distortions are created. This language is simple and clear to everyone. Lesia Ukrainka, as the author of the article, traced, and shrewdly predicted the emergence and spread of such a language, revealing the psychological basis of its emergence. People tend to run away from the difficult problems of life and stay in a clear, comfortable discourse. This applies both to those who manipulate people through language and those who are manipulated. Also confirmed, in the drama, Lesia Ukrainka innovatively raises a number of questions related to the internal laws of world development, the processes of human cognition, the functioning of language, understanding, and interpretation of the word. The formulation and presentation of these issues, as the researcher notes, demonstrate a clear modern attitude, which the writer professed and embodied in her drama. The methodological basis of the study is the hermeneutics of the text.