Silence and speaking as forms of representation of the historical trauma in the Ukrainian prose of the Independence period

Abstract

The relevance of the article is determined by the current need for literary research of contemporary Ukrainian fiction works, focused on the problem of historical trauma, in the context on new achievements of trauma studies, memory studies, and identity studies. The research aims to analyze the role of the phenomena of silence and speaking in the fictional representations of historical traumas of the 20th century in the works of the Ukrainian prose of the Independence period. Methodological framework of the study includes trauma studies, memory studies, and identity studies, as well as postcolonial approach to the analysis of the fictional phenomena. The subject of the research is forms of representation pf historical trauma in the studied texts through the communicative phenomena of silence and speaking. The results of the study. As the main forms of representation of trauma in the works are considered: focus on the characters who became mute because of going through traumas; representation of the characters who stay silent on their traumas — either consciously or because of unconscious communicative barriers; a reflection of an extended process of forming of deep-seated taboo against socially disapproved ideas proclamation; attention to the situation of memory loss which makes impossible for the character to acknowledge his / her own identity; utilization of the plot-creative potential of the mystery, generation of suspense by means of narrative gaps; camouflaging of the key trauma story of the work as a minor, side one, use of unreliable narration stimulating the reader to verify represented facts of the diegesis and to draw his / her own conclusions about the significance of historical traumas in the individual life story of the character. The novelty of the study consists in the consideration of the current fiction works, which represent historical traumas of the 20th century, through the prism of communicative phenomena of silence and speaking. Connections of historical traumas with individual and national identity formation, embodied in the Ukrainian fictional discourse of the Independence period, is an interesting, promising subject of future literary studies.