Mass literature is an integral and important part of the literary process. This literary segment has long been unable to fully develop due to complex historical and social circumstances in the Ukrainian space. The revival and active existence of genres of Ukrainian mass literature at the present stage contribute to the actualization of numerous literary studies. Detective is considered as one of the most popular genres of mass literature in this investigation. The purpose of the article is to trace the peculiarities of the formation of a classic detective in Ukrainian mass literature, to investigate its compliance with the generally accepted formula and to analyse the authentic features. The object of research is a series of stories "The acumen of dr. Piddubny" by Yuri Shovkoplias. Research methods: philological, principles of receptive aesthetics, comparative analysis. The theoretical basis of the study are works of J. Cawelti (theory of formula literature), O. Romanenko, J. Tsymbal, T. Gulyak and others. The article traces the evolution of the detective genre in foreign and Ukrainian literature. It was found that the emergence of the detective in the Ukrainian literature took place in the 1920s, and the founder of the formula of the classic detective can be considered Yuri Shovkoplias. A comparative analysis of the stories "The acumen of dr. Piddubny" showed that the writer, creatively rethinking the famous image of Sherlock Holmes, creates a Ukrainian detective, endowing it with authentic features. Such features are: dr. Piddubny has his quirks; although he uses the obligatory deductive method, he has his own scheme of investigating the crime; the image of the Ukrainian detective corresponds to the realities of the twenties of the twentieth century, etc. Yuri Shovkoplias also complements the already existing formula of the classic detective. He develops his own immutable scheme of events, which is present in each of the works of the cycle. He asserts the domestic analogue of the detective story in this way.
Read full abstract