Two trips to the edge ... (V. Vynnychenko’s and L.-F. Cеline’s point of view about “places of memory” and “spiritual” syphilis in the country of the Soviets

Abstract

The purpose of the proposed article is to analyze the relationship of the two the most “mythologized” representatives of Ukrainian and French literature: V. Vynnychenko and L.-F. Celine in the country of the Soviets to reveal the sources of their ideology (literary nationalism and anti-Semitism in Selin, as well as Europeanism and literary cosmopolitanism in Vynnychenko). The novelty of the study is realized in showwing the relation of both writers to Bolshevism, the proletariat, Soviet reality, using Selin’s pamphlets “Mea culpa”, “Little things for a pogrom”, as well as Vynnychenko's pamphlet “The Revolution is in danger”, the novel “The word is yours, Stalin!” “places of memory”, which occupies an important place in modern mnemonics, with the involvement of the theory of cultural memory (P. Nora), intertextual memory, accentuated memory of history. Research methods: comparative, historical-cultural, biographical, cultural memory. Conclusions: Despite the differences in worldview, problems and poetics, the prose of Vinnichenko and Selina is united by a sharply critical attitude towards Bolshevism, the proletariat, a negative perception of Hitler and Stalin, and the use by both prose writers of the metaphor of “spiritual” syphilis.