MURDER BY STARVATION: THE TOPIC OF HOLODOMOR OF 1932–1933 YEARS IN UKRAINIAN LITERATURE

Abstract

The subject of a scientific interest is the theme of the Holodomor of 1932– 1933 years that was represented in Ukrainian literature of the second half of XX ct. and the beginning of the XXI ct. Despite the fact that the topic of the Holodomor is marked by an interdisciplinary approach to study and is increasingly of scientific interest to researchers in the fields of historiography, sociology, social psychology, anthropology, political science, statistics, literary studies, linguistics, cultural studies, etc., it does not lose its relevance. The specificity of chosen literature depends on the period of writing, difference between knowledge about the Holodomor among different generations, the writing genre, poetic and artistic methods, chronological and spatial dimensions and coordinates. It’s emphasized that the genocide theme in fiction is characterized with the tragedy, the motif of the death, showing the destructive behavior of characters, ruining the spiritual bases of nation etc. The literary observation of the genocide by famine includes the artistic familiarisation of documentary or oral testimonies, which leaves an imprint on the genre specifics, spatial and plot dimensions of the works. Since the village suffered the most from the Holodomor, the rural space prevails in the literature of this thematic range, however, the role of the city in experiencing and understanding the tragedy is equally important, because it increased the chances of survival. The issues of national trauma and national experience acquired by representatives of both sexes and different age categories play an important role in familiarisation the topic of genocide by famine. Although there’s a big amount of literature researches dedicated to the Great Famine theme, this question is still open and needs more essential discovering, therefore, it is very important and productive from the scientific point of view.