THREE IMAGES OF POLISSIA. A COMPARATIVE STUDY IN POSTCOLONIAL COLORS

Abstract

The paper examines the images of Volyn Polissia and its inhabitants in the works by the writers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Based on the methods of comparative and postcolonial studies, the research focuses on the novels “Friendship” (1905) by Lesia Ukrainka, “Malashka” (1881) by the Polish writer G. Zapolska, and “Olesia” (1898) by the Russian author A. Kuprin. The phenomenon of the Volyn-Polissia text provides an opportunity to clarify the topic in historical and cultural dimensions. The narrative structures of the three stories are considered as matrices for perceiving, understanding, and describing reality. The peculiarities of literary practices in topographical and anthropological cataloging of the ‘other’ were also investigated.For a long time, Polissia was under the control of neighboring states. The approach of the Polish and Russian authors to the ‘appropriated territories’ was distinctively invasive (imperial). The positions of cultural and state dominance legitimized the ‘other’ as a secondary and subordinate figure. Thus, the efforts of the colonizers were directed at lowering the native and elevating the stranger. The stranger, as represented in the characters of G. Zapolska and A. Kuprin, was a carrier of higher morality, intelligence, culture, etc. Through total control, he acquired the ‘right’ to rule over those ‘inferior’ to him. In the stories “Malashkaˮ and “Olesiaˮ, which are very similar in their main points, this mechanism is clearly revealed in the female images. The depiction of the local population as wild, aggressive, and drunken ‘creatures’ also attests to the authors’ views.In contrast, the story “Friendship” is perceived as a tale of the national affirmation of the Ukrainian region. Lesia Ukrainka doesn’t idealize the residents of Polissia but clearly shows their distinctiveness. The writer’s characters are Ukrainian and Polish girls of the same age. They have different destinies due to their differing backgrounds. The depicted worlds are independent, which is evidenced by the life of their representatives.