Representation of the Atomic Tragedy as a Unique Historical and Cultural Experience in Ukrainian and Japanese Literature of the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries

Abstract

ABSTRACT The relevance of the study of the literary processes of Ukraine and Japan is determined by the interest in atomic issues around world, the desire to think through different strategies of behavior in the event of a disaster, and to reflect the reality from the scene of the event. The purpose of this article is to understand the cultural and historical experience of Ukrainian and Japanese literature in the context of modern literary ecocriticism. The atomic tragedy in Ukrainian and Japanese literature was represented with the help of plot, genre, and problem-thematic complexes. In these works, attention is focused on mystical and nostalgic motifs, and in the Ukrainian works, on national and symbolic images and traditions. In particular, the key parameters of the texts were considered in view of their thematic and formal content. An idea was formed about the nature of the works written within the framework of atomic problems from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The results of this study were compared with the results of other scientists on the topic—in particular, nuclear disasters of man-made origin.