NOVEL “THE ECUMEN” BY K. SUSHKO: FROM FACTS TO THE AUTHOR’S MYTH

Abstract

The article contains an analysis of the historiosophical concept of the novel “The Ecumen” by the modern Zaporizhzhya writer, publicist and local historian K. Sushko. Emphasis is placed on the genre aspects, the original worldview concept, the peculiarities of the interpretation of historical facts and the specifics of the author’s vision of historical events. Strategies of individual author’s myth-making and historiosophy of the novel are analyzed. The writer’s attention to Scythian issues is explained by the desire to synthesize different periods of Ukrainian history. There are not too much works about this period in modern Ukrainian literature. The K. Sushko’s novel fills the gap. This work contains plot and conceptual parallels to the works of other writers, among which the greatest kinship can be seen in the novel “Atossa” by M. Ulyanov and the poem “Scythian Odyssey” by L. Kostenko. K. Sushko in agreement with L. Kostenko sharply argues with the Russian writer O. Blok. Rethinking the history of the Scythian state, the author tries to combine different epochs and focuses on three periods of expansion into the territory of modern Ukraine. The public resonance of the work is confirmed by the peculiarities of the presentation campaign in different cities of Ukraine. The author’s deconstruction of socio-cultural and socio-political myths, historical and cultural appropriation of the common historical past of the Slavs are defined. One of the most important aspects is the controversy with the supporters of the nomadic way of life of the Scythians. The novel organically combines facts and author’s conjecture. The author creates his original concept based on the testimony of Herodotus, and makes a significant contribution to the development of the genre «time connection novel». Considering the structure of the Scythian state, the author draws parallels with modern Ukraine. The main aspects of the genre model of the work are analyzed. The author’s genre definition of «legend encourages consideration of this work in the context of the mythological paradigm. In the architecture of the novel there is a clear structure of the monomyth. The specificity of the narrative is determined by the author’s strategies: the synthesis of different points of view forms the polyphony of the novel, deepens its philosophical context.