The journal covers the current issues of Slavic and foreign philology, literature studies, linguistics, translations studies, comparative literature.
THEMATIC SWEETS AS A CURRENT COMPONENT OF NATIONAL-CULTURAL CULINARY CAPITAL: THE MASS-MEDIA ASPECT OF THE PROBLEM
In our century, especially in the last 15 years, author’s thematic sweets began to appear and improve quite quickly. They gradually develop from elitist, too expensive, designed for luxury consumption, to democratic options for the general public. Their appearance is repeatedly imitated by confectioners for embodiment in fashionable delicacies for festive and everyday use, receives a peculiar, sometimes quite unexpected artistic and figurative, development during transformations for different types of audience and more effective business. Thematic sweets with visual plots, motifs, heroes, with an expressive story, which is told by materials, possibilities, means – from images to signs – of culinary and artistic arts, have become not only widespread modern manifestations of confectionery skill, but also leading tests of skill at professional competitions, events of confectioners. They have received support from various socio-mental groups, which are characterized by divergent standards of taste, and are even involved as a component of informational and psychological operations. This must be taken into account and studied from the perspective of the formation, action, and longterm intentions of national-state, social, symbolic, and cultural capitals and their component – culinary capital. Thematic desserts formed a certain specific unity with media texts, primarily the genres of food photo and short video. The article focuses on food photo as a simple media genre in the sense that the photo is a representative of only a static image, its language, composition, codes, and rhetoric. The purpose and task of the article are, firstly, to motivate the axiological, ideological topicality, conceptual and categorical expediency and methodological necessity of considering the meaningful form of thematic confectionery products, which is supported, reinforced, and developed by their media texts (primarily food photos) from the position of Bourdieu’s theory of cultural capital. Secondly, to prove that the meaningful form of delicacies, reflected in food photos, is an effective, but not yet properly evaluated, component of national-cultural culinary capital, a concept whose phenomenon is considered mainly from the point of view of the traditional interpretation of gastronomic culture in its connections with social and political cultures. Thirdly, to outline those national, universal meanings and languages of their realization that embodies thematic sweets as national and cultural culinary capital. To study food in its unity with mass media, the concepts of culinary capital, national culinary capital, and mediated foodscapes are actively introduced and used. They are directly derived from the theory and methods of Bourdieu, who substantiated the concept and idea of cultural capital, and are designed to clarify new sociopolitical, everyday, symbolic, and ethical relationships between society, food, and mass media. The ideas and approaches of Bourdieu’s “Distinction” should become one of the key theoretical and methodological foundations for studying the integrity of thematic sweets and media texts. Thematic desserts are ideologically effective representatives of the space of lifestyles. Thematic sweets, in their integrity with media texts, are characterized by the properties of three key types of texts, which constitute a stable ideologically marked coordinate system and represent values, tastes, and meanings that one must be able to “read” and read, decode. Research methods: conceptual approaches, steps, directions which had proved Bourdieu, Naccarato, LeBesco, de Solier, Buscemi; approaches and ways of semiotics Conclusions. Thematic dessert texts, their food photos need to be studied at the intersection of cardinal turns such as linguistic, visual, emotional turn. Thematic sweets, their media texts are manifestations of different types of capital and the language of their implementation. They are information-densely saturated food, which represents, as a rule, elite places, platforms and regimes (Naccarato, LeBesco) of consumption of refined, ideologically, meaningfully, plot-rich delicacies. The unity of delicacies and media texts acquires, actively develops values, norms, meanings, functions that contribute to the growth of business, the strengthening of the fields of economics, sociality and art, standards of tastes (Bourdieu), the elevation of the creative abilities of confectioners, photographers, journalists, advertising specialists, PR, the strengthening of state, national, public consciousness in different generations, segments of the population. This happens with the help of “mass media-gastronomic language”.
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FROM THE ENCHANTED FOREST TO THE BATTLEFIELD: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF FAIRY-TALE AND WAR NARRATIVES
This article aims to identify deep structural, functional, and cognitive parallels between fairy-tale and war narratives, and to substantiate the central hypothesis of the study: the war narrative is not the antithesis of the fairy tale but rather its transformation – the same deep narrative schemas operating in a fundamentally different ethical, emotional, and ontological environment. Methods. The study employs a combination of comparative, structural-semiotic, and functional methods, narrative analysis, and fieldwork methodology (interviews with servicemembers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine conducted in 2024). The empirical base comprises Ukrainian fairy tale texts from the anthology From a Living Source (1990), war narratives from the collection Strong in Spirit: Stories of Sappers of the Russian-Ukrainian War (2025), and digital folklore samples. Results. The comparative analysis establishes that fairy-tale and war narratives share common cognitive and symbolic mechanisms: structuring chaos through binary oppositions, typifying experience through archetypal figures, and constructing networks of meaning. At the same time, significant differences in their realization are identified: the fairy tale tends toward closure and the restoration of equilibrium, while the war narrative registers rupture, fragmentation, and the fundamental incompleteness of experience. Key figures undergo transformation: the hero loses heroic distance and acquires the traits of a witness-hero; the enemy exceeds unambiguous demonization; the miraculous yields to contingency without disappearing as a cultural need. Special attention is given to the internet meme as a new form of micronarrative that inherits the fairy tale’s functions – to explain, to order, and to unite – realizing them in an ironic, compressed, and visually-verbal format. Conclusions. Fairy tales and war narratives represent different states of a single narrative matrix rather than fundamentally distinct cultural systems. The war narrative does not destroy the fairy-tale model but tests it at the limits of the possible: archetypal structures are transformed but do not disappear. This demonstrates that the fairy tale is not merely a genre of the past but a fundamental form of human cognition that retains its efficacy even when the world ceases to conform to its laws. Contemporary digital micronarratives (memes) continue the fairy-tale tradition under new media conditions, confirming the adaptability of folkloric mechanisms in extreme sociocultural circumstances.
TYPES OF MODALITY IN THE ARABIC JOURNALISTIC DISCOURSE
This article aims to provide a systematic analysis of the types of modality found in contemporary Arabic journalistic discourse. The purpose of this study is to develop a semantic-pragmatic classification of objective and subjective modal meanings and to determine their role in shaping journalistic discourse. The article sets out to trace the connection between formal means of expressing modality and the genre nature of journalistic utterances in the contemporary Arab media space. The following methods were used to address these objectives: the descriptive method – to systematize the theoretical and methodological foundations underlying the study; linguistic pragmatic analysis – to classify lexical-grammatical and intonational means of expressing modality in the context of their discourseforming role (the formation of various speech genres); contextual analysis – to clarify the influence of context and presuppositions on the interpretation of the semantic-pragmatic spectrum of various types of modal meanings in contemporary Arabic journalism. The results of the study indicate that modality in Arabic journalistic discourse is a fundamental semanticpragmatic category that extends beyond the boundaries of a single sentence and structures the entire scope of a media message; that is, it plays a discourse-constituting role as an element in the construction of various speech genres within the studied material. It has been found that modality, realized in two main types – objective and subjective – with several subtypes, is expressed formally (explicitly) and implicitly. The formal expression of objective and subjective modality in Arabic journalistic discourse is realized through lexical-grammatical and intonational means. The implicit expression of modality, linked to the interpretation of the addresser’s emotional and evaluative attitude toward the discourse, is established within the context and presuppositions of contemporary Arabic journalistic discourse. This leads to the conclusion that without a semantic-pragmatic approach to modality as a discourse-constituting category, it is impossible to interpret its meaning and role in communication comprehensively. A potential application of this study’s results is the creation of a linguistic pragmatic typology of discourse types in the context of expressing corresponding modal meanings.
DYNAMICS OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF ANALYTICAL FORMS OF THE FUTURE TENSE AT THE END OF THE MIDDLE ENGLISH – AT THE BEGINNING OF THE NEW ENGLAND PERIODS (A CASE STUDY OF THE WORKS BY J. CHAUCER AND W. SHAKESPEARE)
The purpose of this article is to investigate the evolutionary process of the development of analytical forms of the Future tense as one of the verbal grammatical categories using the examples of the works by G. Chaucer and W. Shakespeare, beginning from the late Middle English period and up to the early New English time. The interest in this process at the crossroads of two eras, the opportunity of studying it on the material of historically important works of fiction determined the choice of the topic of our article. Among the research methods that were used to carry out this scientific research within the framework of the stated topic, we will single out general scientific methods of investigating reality – analysis and synthesis; comparative-historical method, which allows comparing and contrasting linguistic grammatical phenomena; structural method, which makes it possible to consider the development of the evolutionary process, highlighting its main system-forming elements; reliable sampling of facts; quantitative and qualitative analysis, generalization. Conclusion. The analysis of the transformation of synthetic forms, which expressed the future action, into analytical ones proves that the emergence of new analytical forms is a long process of grammatical abstraction from individual lexical units. The stages of development of verb categories of two eras (late 14th-early 17th centuries) are characterized by the fact that the category of the Future tense arose in the Middle English period; at the same time, it was not used consistently enough, did not have a fixed order in analytical constructions, and was only relatively widespread. For almost two centuries (from the end of the 14th to the beginning of the 17th century), the category of the Future tense in the paradigm of the English verb has undergone a certain evolution: its use almost completely corresponds to modern norms. It has been established that till the Middle English period, constructions with any modal verb in combination with the infinitive could convey the future action to one degree or another, at the same time preserving their own modal meaning, while in the era of G. Chaucer, only the constructions “shall + infinitive” and “will + infinitive” were used to express the Future tense. At the same time, it has been established that if in the “Canterbury Tales” the verb “shall” most often served as an indicator of future action, in the works by W. Shakespeare, in particular in “Troilus and Cressida”, both verbs, “shall” and “will”, were used to express the future, but without a certain pattern regarding the person.
CINEMATOGRAPHIC FEATURES OF SELMA LAGERLOF’S PROSE POETICS
The purpose of the article is to identify the range of visual and cinematic devices in the poetics of Selma Lagerlöf’s prose and to determine their role in shaping the distinctive character of her artistic worldview. To achieve this aim, the methods of formal and intermedial analysis were employed. The study of the writer’s short stories, the novellas Herr Arne’s Hoard and The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, the novel The Saga of Gösta Berling, and the novel trilogy The Ring of the Löwenskölds revealed a wide range of visual devices in Lagerlöf’s prose poetics that correlate with the devices of cinematic poetics. These include the dynamism of details, the creation of a double-exposure effect in prose, and an emphasis on the pictorial representation of the world characterized by an accentuated play of shots and perspectives. On the narrative and plot levels, the cinematic quality of the writer’s prose is manifested in her frequent use of chase scenes, races, and horseback riding episodes to intensify the plot, as well as in the creation of a suspense effect through cinematographic elements. This makes it possible to conclude that the visual component is one of the central features of the poetics of Lagerlöf’s prose, placing it within the context of “post-Flaubertian” literature that emerged in the final third of the nineteenth century and was characterized less by narrative orientation than by pictorial representation. At the same time, the artistic worldview in all of Lagerlöf’s major works is marked by a high degree of dynamism at all levels (imagery, plot, and narration), which gives her prose a distinctly cinematic coloring and situates it within the intermedial context of twentiethcentury literature.
GENRE DIFFUSION IN IAN MCEWAN’S NOVEL SWEET TOOTH
The creative evolution of the prominent British novelist Ian McEwan demonstrates a consistent and organic transition from the dark physiological focus and shock value of his early “macabre” period to a highly refined intellectual, psychological, and deeply metatextual prose style. The novel Sweet Tooth (2012) became a natural culmination of this long-term development. In it, the author masterfully synthesizes his long-standing interest in the intricacies of the human psyche with subtle autobiographical reflection and postmodern narrative play, ultimately blurring the rigid boundaries between artistic fiction, grand history, and private memoir. The purpose of the study is to investigate the mechanisms, artistic forms, and functions of genre syncretism in contemporary British metafiction based on the analysis of the book «Sweet Tooth» (2012). The study is aimed at revealing the author’s cognitive-narrative strategies and clarifying the specifics of deconstructing canonical narrative models. Research methodology. The study employs an integrated methodological approach combining the tools of genological analysis (to study the interpenetration of genre systems), narrative method (to explicate focalization and the structure of narrative agencies), feminist criticism (to interpret gender performativity), as well as historical-literary and biographical methods. Results. It is proved that the analyzed work is a complex polygenre structure integrating elements of a conspiracy thriller, a classical model of personal development (Bildungsroman), memoir-autobiographical prose, and metatext. It is substantiated that the use of a «quasi-female» narrative is a form of intellectual mystification transforming the patriarchal canons of spy literature. The role of the historical and political background of Great Britain in the 1970s as a dynamic plot factor and a mirror metaphor for artistic creation is clarified. The metatextual role of embedded novellas (the mise en abyme technique) is revealed, serving as a space for theoretical discussions on the nature of realism, the relation between fact and fiction, and the limits of authorial dictate. Conclusions. Genre diffusion in the work plays an integrating role, harmoniously combining an exciting narrative intrigue with philosophical reflections on the nature of writing, the relativity of historical truth, and the ethical responsibility of the creator. The work functions as an artistic autobiographical summary and a nostalgic confession of the beginning of the author’s own creative path, blurring the strict boundaries between reality and fiction.
BIBLICAL IMAGES ON THE STAGE OF THE UKRAINIAN SCHOOL THEATRE OF THE XVII–XVIII CENTURIES
The purpose. The article analyses the features of the artistic interpretation of biblical images in Ukrainian dramaturgy of the 17th–18th centuries. Methods. The article is based on a combination of intertextual, comparative, contextual, historical, intermedial methods. The purpose. The article analyses the the features of the artistic interpretation of biblical images in Ukrainian dramaturgy of the 17th–18th centuries. Conclusions. The most widespread type of dramatic characters in the Ukrainian school theatre of the XVII–XVIII centuries were biblical figures, that was due to the main task of education then existed – the establishment of the Orthodox faith. The main evangelical characters – Christ and the Virgin Mary, appeared rarely on the line of the Ukrainian theatre of the XVII–XVIII centuries. Long time the historians of literature were convinced that they did not go to the Baroque backdrop at all. Such view anchored under the influence of the conception of dependency of ancient Ukrainian performances from the Polish Jesuit theatre, in particular the Jesuit theory of drama, which forbade the Son of God and the Virgin Mary to be brought to the stage. In fact in the Ukrainian theatre of Baroque Christ did appear in human image, but most often this character was replaced by Old Testament prototypes, allegorical figures, the narration of other characters in the play (the principle of reflection), visual images (icons, misty paintings, silent scenes), or by a combination of several methods in one drama at the same time. The Virgin Mary appeared on the Baroque stage directly as a character or was presented with the help of allegorical images. God-the Father could not be a character of drama, this was a general guideline of the Christian art, which did not allow an anthropomorphic depiction of the Father, leaving the possibility of reproducing the Father’s Hypostasis symbolically. Therefore, instead of God-the Father, the “Word of God to Abraham from Heaven” or “Voice (i.e. God) to Moses” sounded on the Baroque stage. The Father was replaced on the line by a number of allegorical figures, for example: “Wisdom, or God”, “Almighty Power”, “Anger, or Justice of God”, “Fortress of God”, “Vengeance”. Results. Among the Biblical characters in the Ukrainian Baroque drama, the figures of the New Testament prevailed. Their function – is not only to portray on stage the history of birth, life, death and resurrection of Christ, but also to present his teachings in a skilful theological interpretation. The characters taken from the Old Testament played the role of prefigurations in the school drama that testifies to the Christocentrism city of the Ukrainian theatre of the XVII–XVIII centuries. The Old Testament characters on the line of the Baroque theatre lost their independence and subjectivity: their task was to “lead” to the Saviour, without the incarnation of the Son of God they would have lost its sense.
THE TRANSFORMATION OF EMOTIONS AS A FORM OF THEIR DESTRUCTION IN OLENA ASTASIEVA’S PLAY «A DICTIONARY OF EMOTIONS IN A TIME OF WAR»
The purpose of the article is to analyse the emotional dynamics in Olena Astasieva’s play A Dictionary of Emotions in a Time of War through the prism of the transformation of emotions as a form of their destruction, as well as to clarify the genre specificity of the work and the linguistic means through which the inner experience of war is rendered. The focus is placed on fear, horror, hunger, betrayal, hatred, love, irritation, guilt, confusion, bitterness, derealization, tears, post-traumatic reactivity, disappointment, anger, desolation, despair, and faith. Methods. The article employs elements of the cultural-historical, hermeneutic, descriptive, and contextual methods. The cultural-historical approach made it possible to consider the play within the coordinates of fullscale war, occupation, evacuation, and collective trauma. The hermeneutic method ensured the interpretation of the emotional dynamics and the inner logic of the work. The descriptive method made it possible to systematize the genre and linguistic features of the text. Contextual analysis provided grounds for relating the play to the broader field of contemporary Ukrainian wartime drama, documentary theatre, and trauma studies. Results. The analysis demonstrates that Olena Astasieva’s play represents the experience of war as a consecutive process of emotional destruction in which primary reactions change their quality, lose their stability, and develop into more complex psychic states. Fear transforms into panic, horror, and hatred; pain comes to include the loss of loved ones, home, work, and the familiar order of life, and then turns into anger, tears, desolation, and despair; prolonged mental tension generates derealization, post-traumatic reactivity, and inner numbness. It has been established that the genre model of the work is hybrid in character and combines the dictionary principle of organizing the material, micro-fragmentation, monologic testimony, dialogic insertions, correspondence, messages, and documentary anchoring in a specific time and space. The linguistic forms of emotional destruction are realized through short sentences, interrogative constructions, repetition, enumeration, polyphony of voices, insertions of others’ speech, Internet instructions, colloquial vocabulary, and affectively intensified utterances. Conclusions. A Dictionary of Emotions in a Time of War models war as an experience of profound inner rupture encompassing the perception of space, time, the body, home, loved ones, the future, and the self. The integrity of the play is ensured by the consecutive passage through the named emotional states and through the linguistic forms by which they are articulated. Language in this work records traumatic experience and at the same time reproduces its inner dynamics. This provides grounds for considering Olena Astasieva’s play as a representative text of contemporary Ukrainian wartime drama in which emotional destruction becomes one of the central modes of the artistic comprehension of war.
TYPOLOGY OF THE SNAKE IMAGE IN THE UKRAINIAN MAGIC FOLK TALE: FUNCTIONAL AND SEMANTIC ASPECT
Purpose. The purpose of the study is to identify the main types of the snake image in Ukrainian magic fairy tales and to analyze its functional and semantic features within the structure of the fairy-tale narrative. Methods. The methodological framework of the study is based on the comprehensive application of typological, structural-semiotic, hermeneutic, and chronotopic approaches. The typological method was employed to identify and systematize the main types of the snake image in Ukrainian magic fairy tales. Structural-semiotic analysis was applied to examine the functional and semantic characteristics of the snake image within the system of the fairy-tale narrative. The hermeneutic approach, combined with psychoanalytic tools, was used to interpret the archetypal nature and symbolic meaning of the snake image. The chronotopic approach was employed to consider the snake image as a marker of the spatial and temporal organization of the fairy-tale world. Results. As a result of the analysis, three main types of the snake image were distinguished, each representing a specific model of interaction within the spatio-temporal framework of the fairy tale. It has been established that each of the identified types performs characteristic functions in the structure of the narrative and correlates with the corresponding archetypes of the collective unconscious. The first type is the snake as a magical helper. This image embodies the archetype of the Good Mother. The snake-helper assists the protagonist in overcoming obstacles, provides magical objects, and ensures transitions between different spatio-temporal levels of the fairy-tale world, functioning primarily within its “own” or relatively safe space for the hero. The second type is the mother-snake. It possesses anthropomorphic features and is usually located in the otherworld or at the boundary between worlds. Its goal is to eliminate the protagonist; the methods of confrontation vary depending on the context, reflecting the variability of its functioning within the fairy-tale chronotope. In more archaic texts, the snake appears less aggressive, whereas in later narratives it becomes more hostile and destructive. The third type is the enchanted snake. The enchanted girl (a personified Anima of the hero) is under the control of a demonic force. The protagonist must perform a series of feats in order to reveal the spiritual aspect of the heroine and free her from the snake skin, which represents the process of transition between different ontological states. Conclusions. Thus, through the comprehensive application of typological, structural-semiotic, hermeneutic, and chronotopic approaches, the main types of the snake image in Ukrainian magic fairy tales have been identified. The snake image emerges as a complex symbolic construct that integrates archetypal, functionalsemantic, and chronotopic dimensions and serves as one of the key mechanisms in the organization of the fairytale narrative.
METATEXTUAL MEANS OF INTERTEXTUALITY IN CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH-LANGUAGE CHRISTIAN CHILDREN'S ANIMATION
The purpose of the article is to analyse the manifestations of intertextuality and metatextuality in contemporary English-language Christian children's animation. The author proposes her own definition of intertextuality and metatextuality in Christian animation, and highlights common and distinctive means of expressing intertextuality and metatextuality in modern English-language animation. Methods. The research is based on general scientific and linguistic methods such as: deductive and inductive methods, descriptive method, hermeneutic method, method of intertextual analysis, method of dialogical interpretation of the text, which allowed to identify the means of manifestation of intertextuality and metatextuality in Christian animation. Results. It has been determined that intertextuality in Christian animation as a type of modern sermon is a text- and meaning-making category that forms the preaching genre through the paratextual manifestations, metatextual interpretation, hypertextual transformations and architextual connections of the Sacred Tradition texts, as well as by means of verbal and non-verbal textual borrowings belonging to other discursive practices and cultural traditions. The analysis of modern English-language Christian children's animation has proven that metatextual manifestations of intertextuality include commentary, explanation, edification, interpretation, assumption, question / answer, addition and expansion of information. Conclusions. It has been found that Christian animation has multi-level dialogic relations and connections between texts, comprising intertextual direct citation with such means of manifestation as: quotation-word, quotation-phrase, quotation-sentence, quotation-fragment of the text, and intertextual indirect citation with the following means of implementation: paraphrase, intertextual retelling, reminiscence, allusion. The article proves that intertextual retelling and paraphrase as means of expressing intertextuality differ from metatextual retelling by adding the author’s commentary, explanation, edification, interpretation, contrast, assumption, questions / answers.
FEMALE NARRATIVE VOICE IN CONTEMPORARY WOMEN-CENTRED PROSE
Aim. The aim of the article is to analyse the female narrative voice in contemporary women-centred prose as a key principle of organising the literary discourse of popular fiction. The study seeks to clarify the concept of women-centred prose as an analytical category that cannot be reduced to genre labels such as chick lit or women’s fiction, but is grounded in the dominance of a female perspective in shaping narrative structure, modes of focalisation, and the distribution of semantic emphasis within the text. Methods. The methodological framework of the study combines narratological, discourse-analytical, and feminist approaches. The analysis draws on the examination of narrative voice and internal focalisation, the interpretation of narrative subjectivity, and comparative analysis applied to contemporary Anglophone and Francophone popular prose. The theoretical foundation of the research is based on works in narrative theory, feminist literary criticism, and studies of popular culture. Results. The analysis shows that in women-centred prose the female narrative voice plays a formative role in shaping the logic of narration, the representation of events, and the construction of characters. Such texts are characterised by the prevalence of internal focalisation, a strong focus on everyday experience, emotional states, and practices of care, as well as sustained attention to long-term interpersonal relationships. Narrative dynamics in women-centred prose tend to develop not through climactic events, but through sequences of minor episodes, internal shifts, and moments of reflection that acquire meaning-making significance within the narrative structure. Conclusions. The female narrative voice in contemporary women-centred prose functions as a central mechanism for organising the literary text and representing female experience. This perspective makes it possible to interpret popular prose not merely as a genre-marked phenomenon, but as a discursive space in which issues of subjectivity, emotional labour, vulnerability, and responsibility are articulated and negotiated. Further research may focus on corpus-based analysis of women-centred prose as well as cross-linguistic comparison of narrative strategies.
CONTEMPORARY LITERARY TENDENCIES: SHIFT OF CULTURAL PARADIGMS OR THE HETEROCHRONY OF CONCEPTUAL FILTERS
The given paper puts forward a reconceptualization of Literary Studies domain as meta-space where different theoretical and historical paradigms do not exclude one another but produce a holistic conceptual field of interaction. Purpose. The aim of the study is to substantiate the claim that the current state of Literary Studies should function in the consolidative mode not differentiative in order to overlay analytical conceptual perspectives. To become an integrative meta-space that functions at the intersection of various cultural-historical regimes. Methods of the investigation are formed as a complex set of analysis and synthesis while reviewing the relevant literature, the comparative-typological method used to establish similarities and differences of the linear and rhizomatic thinking pattern development. Structural, method of deconstruction, and cultural approach are combined to characterize the contemporary domain of Literary Studies as polycentric and interdisciplinary area. Results. Literary challenges are connected with present day multi-temporal perspective. Contemporary trends in Literary Studies is a kind of distinctive response to this polyphonic situation that has emerged. It should move from rigid historical periodization and fixed epochal frameworks to the interpretive paradigm that makes possible the perception of any paradigm not as separate entities but as dynamic interaction. In the course of investigation, Contemporary trends in Literary Studies are viewed as a kind of meta-discursive frame that incorporates Literary Studies traditional heritage, structural and semiotic approaches, postmodern deconstructive critics, cultural and interdisciplinary approach. The research suggests that Modernism, Postmodernism, Metamodernism are not autonomous epochs but the conceptual filters that are present, to varying degrees, in any temporal contexts. Such a perspective allows to overcome linear models of literary development and to move towards multidimensional interpretative dimensions. Within this context, the Premodernism correlates with a sacred and mythological horizon, Modernism corresponds to rational, subject-centered, and structural orientations, Postmodernism operates in a mode of deconstructing centers and grand narratives and Metamodernism is characterized by a new synthesis and an affective-value engagement. Conclusions. It is concluded that contemporary Literary Studies emerges as an open meta-space in which diverse conceptual filters co-exist, shaping a qualitatively new culture of reading and theoretical reflection.
SYNCHRONIC AND DIALECTIC APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF THE LEXICAL SYSTEM OF THE GERMAN LANGUAGE
The purpose of the study is to investigate the lexical system of the German language from a historical perspective by tracing lexical changes across different periods of its development, as well as to analyze the vocabulary of German at the present stage of its functioning. To achieve this aim, the study sets out to trace the development of lexical units and semantic changes over time (from the Indo-European to the Early New High German period); to describe word-formation models and the main sources of lexical enrichment at the early stages of the German language; to identify the most productive word-formation processes in Modern German; and to analyze the functional differentiation of its lexical system. The research methods include comparative-historical, word-formation, and descriptive approaches, and their combined application ensures a comprehensive analysis of the German lexicon in both historical and contemporary perspectives. The results demonstrate that the combined synchronic and diachronic analysis of vocabulary contributes to a deeper understanding not only of the internal mechanisms of language development but also of the cultural and social processes accompanying it. It is established that the majority of lexical items in early Germanic languages were inherited from the Indo-European proto-language, as linguistic contacts were limited and lexical formation occurred primarily within the language system itself, drawing on a shared Indo-European heritage. Conclusions. Throughout its historical development, the German lexicon underwent continuous transformations under the influence of extralinguistic factors, leading to the enrichment of the vocabulary through borrowings and to the expansion of word-formation potential by means of affixation. The lexicon of modern German differs significantly from that of earlier historical stages due to the substantial presence of loanwords, the extensive development of scientific and technical terminology, and a clear social differentiation reflected in the existence of professional jargon and youth slang. A promising direction for further research is the analysis of expressiveness and syntactic features of vocabulary in early Germanic languages.
The article provides a study of contrastive metaphor as a leading mechanism of poetic meaning-making in contemporary Ukrainian war discourse. The starting point of the research is the assumption that under the conditions of war, metaphor ceases to perform a purely aesthetic or ornamental function and is transformed into a means of cognitive comprehension of extreme, traumatic experience. The purpose of the article is to theoretically conceptualize contrastive metaphor as a form of “darkened antithesis” and to describe its cognitive-semantic mechanisms in contemporary Ukrainian war poetry. The study seeks to reveal how a latent semantic conflict becomes a source of figurative tension and determines the interpretative potential of the poetic text. The research methodology includes linguostylistic analysis of metaphorical constructions, cognitivesemantic analysis of domains, frames, and scenarios, component analysis of evaluative semes, as well as a contextual-pragmatic approach that takes into account the reader’s interpretative activity. The theoretical framework draws on the principles of cognitive metaphor theory, the concept of mental spaces and conceptual integration, as well as interpretative approaches to the analysis of semantic tension in literary imagery. The results of the study demonstrate that contrastive metaphor in war poetry functions as a radical form of implicit opposition, within which the conflict is not named directly but structurally organizes meaning. It is established that such metaphors are primarily realized through two basic models: the paradoxical model, based on the collision of incompatible domains or attributes. It is shown that implicitness does not weaken but rather intensifies the semantic and emotional density of the image, engaging the reader in active reconstruction of the hidden opposition. Conclusions confirm that contrastive metaphor is not a peripheral but a system-forming element of contemporary poetic thinking about war. It performs cognitive, emotional, ethical, and text-forming functions, enabling an indirect yet conceptually precise comprehension of traumatic reality. The proposed approach expands the analytical potential of linguopoetics and cognitive semantics and outlines prospects for further corpus-based and psycholinguistic studies of figurative language in crisis discourses.
The purpose of this article is to analyse the use of chess metaphors in Ukrainian-language sports media texts devoted to various sports. The relevance of the study is determined by the popularity of sports in Ukraine and the attention of a wide audience to sports content, the emotionality and imagery of which is provided by authors of sports news and analytical articles, in particular, through secondary nomination. The chess metaphor is often used in socio-political texts, but the specifics of its functioning in the segment of sports journalism remain insufficiently covered, which justifies the scientific novelty of the chosen topic. The main methods used to identify and systematise instances of metaphorical use of chess terms, record their figurative meaning and determine their functions in sports media texts include contextual analysis, metaphorical modelling, as well as general scientific descriptive methods and generalisation. As a result of analysing texts devoted to sports other than chess and published in five sports media outlets, namely “TSN. Prosport”, “Futbol 24”, “Champion”, “SPORTARENA”, and “UA-Futbol”, the functioning of such chess terms as “gambit”, “grandmaster”, “debut”, “endgame”, “checkmate (scholar's mate)”, “stalemate”, “castling”, “time trouble”, “zugzwang”, “check” and “chess”. Most often, such cases were recorded in news and articles about football and boxing. To systematise the identified metaphors, we propose considering the metaphorical model SPORT IS CHESS, the structure of which includes the frames “Chess game”, “Stages of a chess game”, “Crisis positions” and “Chess player”. Conclusions. Chess metaphors encourage the reader to think associatively and perform content-creating and evaluative functions in sports media texts, as they are used to emphasise certain characteristics of sporting events or episodes, competition results or intermediate positions, sports figures and related situations. Given the systematic use of chess metaphors by authors in a number of their publications, there is reason to consider such linguistic units as elements of the authorial idiolect of sports journalists. We consider further analysis of the semantics and functions of chess metaphors in texts of various styles and genres to be promising.
LINGUISTIC TABOOS CONCERNING DEATH AND BURIAL PRACTICES IN MODERN CHINESE
The article is devoted to a comprehensive study of the phenomenon of linguistic taboo as a universal mechanism of social control and communication regulation, emphasizing its role in reflecting cultural values and social norms. Taboo, being inherent in virtually all cultures, performs critical functions: regulatory (maintenance of order), communicative (adherence to etiquette), and cultural-identifying. Particular attention is focused on the manifestations of taboo in Chinese linguoculture, where it acquires specific forms, notably due to the influence of political censorship and the active use of euphemisms, homophones, and code designations to circumvent prohibitions. The key object of the study is the taboo nature of the concept of death in the Chinese language. Unlike, for example, Ukrainian culture, where death is perceived as a natural process, in China, the direct mention of death is strictly avoided. This is associated with a deep-seated fear of invoking misfortune and a philosophical vacuum regarding the afterlife left by Confucianism. An additional factor is the Confucian principle of filial piety, which views physical harm to the body as disrespect for ancestors. The purpose of the study is to identify and systematize the features of the functioning of taboo vocabulary related to death and burial realities in modern Chinese, and to reveal its linguocultural and sociopragmatic principles. Achieving this goal involves the following tasks: 1) to analyze the euphemistic, classificatory, and abusive (swear) lexico-semantic groups that denote death and burial realities in modern Chinese; 2) to reveal the sociocultural and linguistic mechanisms (particularly the influence of homophony and philosophical/ folk beliefs) that form the linguistic taboo around the concept of death in Chinese society. Research methods include theoretical analysis of scientific literature; functional analysis (clarifying the role of taboo in communication); and linguocultural analysis (identifying the influence of homophony and cultural concepts on language). Results. The study confirms that linguistic taboo is a universal and fundamental mechanism of social control and behavior regulation, reflecting deep cultural values and the limits of what is permissible. Although universal taboo domains (such as death or physiological functions) exist across all cultures, their specific content reveals significant national and cultural specificity. Specifically, in Chinese linguoculture, the concept of death is one of the most strictly tabooed topics, which is conditioned by both the Confucian principle of filial piety and the philosophical vacuum regarding the afterlife, which is filled by folk beliefs. At the linguistic level, this taboo is actively supported by the phenomenon of homophony, where words with identical sounds (e.g., the number 4) acquire a negative, forbidden connotation. This severity, however, stimulates high linguistic creativity, leading to the formation of an extensive system of euphemisms (metaphorical, status, and code designations) to circumvent prohibitions in polite communication. Paradoxically, tabooed vocabulary, while completely unacceptable for expressing sympathy, is actively used as a tool for aggression and invective, underscoring its dual pragmatic nature as a means of both social harmony and emotional outburst. Conclusions. Linguistic taboo is a universal means of social regulation, but its manifestations in the Chinese language have a deeply national specificity, shaped by Confucianism, which made the concept of death particularly strictly tabooed. The high level of homophony in Chinese acts as a key mechanism that supports and intensifies linguistic superstitions. Taboo stimulates linguistic creativity, leading to the formation of a wide layer of euphemisms and code substitutions to circumvent prohibitions, which indicates the flexibility of communicative strategies. A paradox is observed: a word forbidden in a polite context is actively used as an instrument of aggression, which points to the pragmatic, and not just magical, nature of taboo in speech.
THE CONCEPT "LOVE" AND ITS VERBALIZATION IN BOLESŁAW PRUS’ NOVEL THE DOLL
The aim of the article is to examine the ways in which the concept "love" is expressed in Bolesław Prus’ novel The Doll as a multidimensional phenomenon with deep linguistic, philosophical, and cultural foundations. The study analyzes the artistic means through which the concept of love is conveyed in the original Polish text and its translations into English and Ukrainian. Methods. The study employs methods of structural-semantic analysis, componential analysis, and contextual analysis. These methods allowed us to identify the linguistic means that shape the concept of love and convey it in the work under study through the analysis of grammar and vocabulary in the novel. Results. The article presents research findings that demonstrate the multilayered structure of the concept "love" and its heterogeneity in language use. In particular, the main semantic components of this concept are distinguished, the combination of which forms a wide range of meanings and emotional nuances. Analysis of literary texts showed that love can be verbalized through direct nominations (affection), emotional oppositions (heart–mind), metaphorical comparisons (light, suffering), and symbols (love–doll). Important roles are played by linguistic devices such as forms of address, diminutives, grammatical structures, and stylistic means that emphasize the expressiveness of feelings. Conclusions. It has been shown that in different contexts and in translation versions, the concept “love” acquires new semantic accents – from the symbol of a doll and illusoriness to a marker of established traditions. The concept of “love” is verbalized through a complex system of metaphors, frames, and stylistic devices that reflect the protagonist’s inner struggle between ideal and reality. The translations partially transform the emotional and evaluative component, which affects the reader’s perception of the concept. Thus, our study proves that the verbalization of the concept of love in a literary work is not only a reflection of the hero’s individual experience but also a universal strategy for constructing the value-based worldview of the protagonist.
FUNKTIONS AND SPECIFICITIES OF FIRST-PERSON NARRATION IN TRACY CHEVALIER’S “GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING”
The present article seeks to uncover new semantic layers and interpretative vectors of Tracy Chevalier’s novel Girl with a Pearl Earring through an analysis of its narrative design. The research methodology combines narratological analysis with elements of intermedial comparative studies and genre theory. A multi-tiered examination has revealed the pivotal role of first-person narration in articulating the central ideas of the novel and in shaping the image of the heroine-narrator. Special attention is given to the “event of narration” (M. Bakhtin) as a fundamental act of subjectivity performed by the heroine, as well as to the construction of her personality through the perceptual dimension of narrative perspective. A distinctive feature of the heroine’s worldview, realized within the poetics of narration, is her synesthetic perception – most notably, the systematic transformation of auditory impressions into visual equivalents. This synesthetic disposition necessitates the transposition not only of auditory impressions into visual imagery but of both modalities into verbal expression. The analysis further demonstrates the distributive relations between verbal and visual (painterly) modes of perception, emphasizing how verbal self-expression serves as a vehicle for the heroine-narrator’s creative potential. It is proposed that the very gesture that transforms Vermeer’s painted model into a narrating subject may be discerned in the sitter’s pose: her turning back to glance at the viewer, in conjunction with a direct and expressive gaze and slightly parted lips – as if on the verge of speech – constitutes a pictorial analogue of first-person narration. At the same time, just as the dark, neutral background of Vermeer’s portrait conceals the world surrounding the depicted figure, so too does the narrator’s voice withhold her most profound experiences and value judgments. In this way, the heroine’s narrative becomes a verbal correlate of Vermeer’s portrait, paradoxically uniting radical openness with radical concealment. These observations allow for the conclusion that, in addition to existing definitions of the novel’s generic specificity, Girl with a Pearl Earring may also be conceptualized as a “novel of ekphrasis,” in which the ekphrastic dimension is realized through first-person narration according to the strategy of “disclosure and concealment.”
MYTHOLOGICAL SCENARIO OF INITIATION IN MARJANE SATRAPI’S PERSEPOLIS
Purpose. The aim of this article is to carry out a semiotic reconstruction of the mythological scenario of initiation in the graphic memoir Persepolis. The research objectives include: reviewing scholarly reception of Marjane Satrapi’s autobiographical work and identifying key directions in Persepolis studies; analyzing the range of core mythologemes in the text within mythological frameworks relevant to their semantics; describing a three-stage algorithm for reading the initiation myth-scenario – separation, trial, reward; and identifying stylistically representative intermedial markers in the text. Methods. The reconstruction of the mythological initiation scenario is conducted using mythosemiotic modeling and mytho-analysis. The study also employs elements of narratological, textual, imagological, and stylistic analysis, as well as intermedial methodology as the principal approach. Results. Three initiation cycles of the Persepolis narrator are reconstructed. Each cycle of the modeled mythological initiation scenario follows an identical algorithm – Separation → Trial → Reward – explicitly represented in the text through recurring images and motives. The mythologemic representatives of the three cycles are identified, including images corresponding to the following myth-models: hydromorphic (water), pyromorphic (fire), terramorphic (earth), solar (sun), floristic (flowers), aeromorphic (wind, air), theistic (God), attributive (breadbird, veil), and oromorphic (prison wall, stairs, basement). These myth-models predominantly convey ambivalent semantics and represent central motives of the narrative. The visual language of the text is analyzed; together with the verbal code it deciphers the semantics of initiation. The visual component of the work most fully reflects Satrapi’s distinctive authorial style. Conclusions. Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis reveals a neo-mythological dimension of the graphic narrative, in which hidden archetypal structures emerge and unexpected figurative-motivational connections unfold. Intermedial and mythosemiotic analysis of the comic positions it as a complex, multilayered form of contemporary cultural representation that challenges entrenched stereotypes of comics as a low genre of mass literature.
SYMBOLISM OF THE PLANT WORLD IN THE FANTASY NOVEL OF SCARLETT ST. CLAIR “A TOUCH OF DARKNESS”
The purpose of the article is to investigate the artistic parameters of the symbolism of the plant world in the fantasy novel “A Touch of Darkness” by contemporary American writer Scarlett St. Clair. The research methods are structured as a complex that includes elements of analysis and synthesis (for reviewing sources on the researched problem), the comparative-typological method (for establishing similarities and differences in the representation of the myth of Demeter and Persephone in literary works), the hermeneutic method (for interpreting the text of the novel and further analyzing its individual elements), anthropological analysis (for tracing and systematizing the life experience of the characters represented in the work), as well as ecocritical approach (for highlighting the ecological consciousness of the characters and their ecocentric values). Results. The research analyzes the symbolism of the plant world in S. St. Clair's fantasy novel “A Touch of Darkness.” It has been established that the writer takes the invariant of the ancient Greek myth about Demeter and Persephone as a basis and modifies its components to highlight contemporary problems. In the novel the writer emphasizes the image of Persephone rather than Demeter; she uses the myth not to explain the change of seasons, but primarily for the representation of the hybrid identity of a young person who is at once the goddess of spring and the chosen one of Hades as the future queen of the Underworld. An important means of depicting Persephone's hybridity is the images of the plant world, which by their very nature exist in earthly and underground spaces at the same time. It has been established that among the floristic images of the work, the most significant are the narcissus and the flower garden. In the consciousness of the main heroine, the narcissus manifests the appearance of Hades, marks the environment of his existence, and serves as his symbol. The flower garden that Persephone attempts to grow in the Underworld is a reflection of all stages of her liberation from any external guardianship and the affirmation of her own identity. Conclusions. Thus, in S. St. Clair’s “A Touch of Darkness”, the framework of the fantasy novel is employed as a safe environment for representing important contemporary philosophical, gender, and ecological issues. The fictional world serves as a convenient space for the reinterpretation of invariant and the actualization of variable motifs of the myth of Demeter and Persephone. In the depiction of the plant world of the novel, both strategies are combined; for instance, the invariant image of the narcissus acquires variable connotations associated with the ethical responsibility of characters and the influence of social factors.
FUNCTIONAL AND SEMANTIC POTENTIALOF FOREIGNPREFIXES POLYAND MULTI- IN MODERN UKRAINIAN WORD-FORMATION
At the current stage of the development of linguistic science the Ukrainian language is undergoing intensive enrichment of its vocabulary under the influence of globalization processes, active development of science, technologies and mass communications. The goal of the article is clearly defined as the following: to analyze the functional and semantic potential of the foreign-language prefixes poly- and multi- in modern Ukrainian word formation, to highlight their role in the processes of nomination with the aim of creating emotionally expressive vocabulary. A set of general scientific and linguistic methods was used to analyze the prefixes poly- and multi-. The results of the analysis are as follows: their etymology, ways of entering the Ukrainian language, the main meanings, and areas of use are examined. It has been clarified that the prefix poly- has a long tradition of functioning and is used mainly in scientific and humanitarian spheres, is used to denote multiplicity, diversity, multi-componentiality, and in a bookish, artistic style can have an expressive coloring, emphasizing the multifaceted nature of the phenomenon, semantically giving words a touch of universality, a wide spectrum, while the prefix multi- is a later borrowing, widespread due to globalization processes and English-language influence, and actively functions in technological and mass media discourse, stylistically more colloquial and "modern", often associated with globalization, technology, modern realities. It is substantiated that a comparative analysis of these productive word-forming formants, which form terms and neologisms that reflect the dynamics of Ukrainian word formation, has demonstrated both their semantic proximity and stylistic differences. It has been found in the summary that poly- tends more towards scientific and academic language, giving the word "seriousness", while multi- is used mainly in technological and mass media discourse. It is emphasized that the functional and semantic potential of both the prefixes reflects the dynamics of Ukrainian word-formation, the enrichment of terminological systems, and the development of the linguistic picture of the world under the influence of both internal trends and external globalization processes. The prospects are seen in further studying the variant use of these prefixes and their role in the formation of neologisms in various areas of modern discourse.
MOTIF OF THE SIXTIERS IN MARYNA HRYMYCH’S NOVEL «YURA»
The purpose of the article is to analyze the motif of the Sixtiers in famous Ukrainian writer Maryna Hrymych’s novel «Yura» which describes the social and art processes in Ukraine in 1960s. Methods. The elements of the following methods are used in the research: cultural and historical (helps to investigate the features of Ukrainian national character on back ground of historical epoch), aesthetic (allows analyzing novel as a phenomenon of literature and art), mythological (to cover the author’s reproduction of mythological images), hermeneutic (ensures free and open interpretation of the text with the possibility of new explanations), descriptive (systematization of separate elements in the writer’s text), intertextual (to elucidate the functions of poetical excerpts in the novel). The research is based on the general methods of analysis, synthesis, observation, selection, and systematization of the material. Results. The author of the article presents an analysis of Marina Hrymych’s novel «Yura» through the consideration of the cross-cutting motif of the Sixtiers, which plays an important role in the work. The writer develops this motif through assessments, memories and critical reviews of the Sixtiers by a wide variety of representatives of society – from students and publishing house employees to high-ranking officials and KGB employees and their informants. The author combines documentary in depicting the pages of the life and work of Mykola Vingranovsky, Yevhen Hutsalo, Ivan Dziuba, Ivan Drach, Mykola Lukash, Hryhor Tyutyunnyk and other Sixtiers writers with traditions and legends about them, born in the writing and literary circles. Conclusions. In Marina Hrymych’s novel «Yura», the Sixties are spoken of as a style of the era of reassessment of outdated dogmas in social life and the literary and artistic process of the post-Stalin era. And this style was provided not only by the efforts of bright creative personalities or well-known public figures, but also by ordinary people in general. The Sixtiers are represented as a community of intellectuals, obsessed eccentrics-loners who had a calling to shock the public and successfully achieved this, not afraid of suffering for it. The author draws a watershed between the Russian and Ukrainian Sixtiers, who acted and created in completely different circumstances.
THE PHENOMENON OF UNCERTAINTY IN MODERN LITERATURE: RESEARCH PERSPECTIVES
“MASS MEDIA-GASTRONOMIC” LANGUAGE OF ADVERTISING AND PR COMMUNICATIONS (BASED ON THE IMAGE OF A UNICORN)
In the space of media communications, a relatively new language, “mass media-gastronomic”, has been actively and successfully developing recently. This language is being mastered and effectively used by advertising and PR communications. Further merging of opportunities, tasks, languages of journalism, advertising, PR, development of already established ones, created of new intermediate territories (Mukařovský) with active inclusion and use of business and art fields is an aspect that now needs to be rethought, taking into account the active, rapid, much vector formation and development of the integrity of thematic dessert texts and their media texts, especially food photography. “Mass media-gastronomic” language manifests and represents the specifics of new platforms of peculiar, semantically and symbolically multilayered media texts; a new fusion of media texts, media discourses with texts of artistic culture (literature, painting, cinema), confectionery art; a new expansion of the intermediate territory, which has long been formed by the intentions of the mass media, ideology and literary culture, due to gastronomic culture; of a new language that has emerged and is rapidly improving for communication in the social and everyday environment, which is characterised by new models of leisure and its description, representation in the virtual space. The main purposes and objectives of the article are, firstly, to substantiate new platforms and languages that are created and developed on them for media texts, media discourses that have emerged under the influence of a rather unexpected growth of artistic culture, artistic opportunities supported by the digitalisation of confectionery art, its effective connection, even affinity with the world of media communications; secondly, to show the relationship, trends in the rapports of the connections between confectionery art, media texts, advertising, PR of goods, services, leading ideas, images of the ideology of modern social mythology; thirdly, to characterise the correlation between the traditional language of the world of advertising, PR and the “mass media-gastronomic” language; fourthly, to confirm the key theoretical theses by analysing and interpreting the image of the unicorn, which is actively used by modern confectioners, both world and Ukrainian. Research methods: the classical semiotics, the foundations of which were developed by Mukařovský, Todorov, Barth, Eco, Deleuze, Derrida, Lotman, and now their successor – Open Semiotics, which will not allow to “blur” the object of research and the boundaries between different areas of humanities and ideas; the concepts of the fusion of the fields of business, art, power, media communications by Bourdieu and Virilio, as well as the principles and approaches to the world of the imaginary, which were discussed by Caillois and Malraux in the second half of the twentieth century. The results and conclusions of the article. Desserts-texts and their media texts are a relatively new phenomenon that has already created and is developing a complex intermediate territory. “Mass mediagastronomic” language is a successful, in many ways even surprising discovery, which is still relatively new, fashionable, actively developing, acquiring its own features, qualities, and realising its possibilities. It is built by a system of signs that are both preserving memory, the functions of mythology, folklore, artistic culture and creativity, ideology, mass media, food, business, which are actively used and have not been levelled out and erased due to the novelty and popularity of the phenomenon. It is a language for telling simultaneously about a product, a service and, most importantly, the image of a happy world of joy, perfection, refined taste, pleasure that stands behind them and can be literally, to the point of bodily sensations, reproduced, created in the everyday life of an ordinary person. The usual artistic culture, its images, plots, language, and functions are not additional to the “mass media-gastronomic” language, they are used more often by advertising, on an ad hoc basis PR texts, and communications to achieve their main goal: to present and sell a product or service; to create, consolidate, and develop the image of a company, person, idea, etc. For the “mass media-gastronomic” language, artistic culture is a full-fledged and significant substantive component, without which the successful and effective functioning of new surprise platforms and intermediate territories is impossible.
VISUAL METAMORPHOSES OF KHARKIV IN YURII SHEVELOV’S MEMOIRS “I – ME – TO ME... (AND AROUND)”
The purpose. The article analyses the peculiarities of creating a visual image of the city of Kharkiv and its spatial and temporal metamorphoses in the book by Yurii Shevelov “I – me – to me… (and around)”. Research methodology. The research is based on a combination of comparative, historical, contextual, and intermediate methods. Results. It is noted that the author’s memory is predominantly visual, which is why the past is recorded in the form of slides: a general panorama of the city, buildings, citizens, everyday scenes, etc. Compared to the “Kharkiv texts” of writers of the 1920s and 1930s, the Kharkiv visualized by Yu. Shevelov has its own peculiarities. They are determined not only by the genre nature of the text, but also by the mentality of the authors. For people from small provincial towns or villages, the metamorphosis of the big city was perceived with delight. For Yu. Shevelov, Kharkiv was his hometown, which he had known since childhood, so his attitude towards the city was different – personal and partly subjective. It has been established that the “memory slides” in Yu. Shevelov’s memoirs can be chronologically categorized into periods that align with significant historical events which prompted visual transformations of the city: 1914–1917; 1917–1921; the twentieth anniversary of Kharkiv as the capital of Soviet Ukraine; the post-capital period prior to the war, particularly 1931–1936; the years of German occupation; and February 6, 1943 – marked as the “day of farewell” to the city forever, serving as a counterpoint in the lives of both the author and the city. Conclusions. The principle of visualization used in the memoirs is proposed to be classified as photographic. On the pages of the memoirs, Kharkiv appears through the prism of the metonymic gaze of an observer who seems to be “holding” a camera. The images captured by his “camera” are clear, without subjective distortion. However, in some places, to capture the metamorphoses that took place with the city, the author uses an “easel” instead of a “camera”, which makes his “pictures from the past” emotionally coloured. The study of the peculiarities of visualization of other cities of Ukraine and the world by Yu. Shevelov is mentioned as one of the promising areas for further research.
ACADEMIC DISHONESTY: TRANSLATION AND USAGE OF TERMS IN UKRAINIAN HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM
The purpose of the study is to analyse the features of translation and usage of terms denoting academic dishonesty and investigate the system of responsibility for violations of academic integrity in Ukrainian higher education. Methods. The study used comparative analysis to compare English and Ukrainian terms of academic dishonesty; structural and semantic analysis to study the features of term translation; content analysis of international and Ukrainian documents, glossaries, thesauruses, and newsletters; descriptive method to characterise the types of academic integrity violations and responsibilities for them in Ukrainian system of higher education. The research material is The Bucharest Declaration of Ethical Values and Principles of Higher Education in the European Region (2004), National Educational Glossary (2024), the Glossary of the National Agency for Quality Assurance in Education (2020), Thesaurus of Terms in the Field of Higher Education Quality Assurance: Ukrainian-English / English-Ukrainian Parallels (2025) and Academic Integrity newsletters (2019–2024). Results. In the context of European integration processes and the implementation of international educational standards, the problem of adequate translation of terminology denoting academic honesty becomes particularly relevant due to terminological discrepancies, differences in educational traditions and legal norms between the Ukrainian and Western higher education systems. The study systematised the terms denoting academic dishonesty into five categories: violations related to plagiarism and intellectual property rights, violations related to dishonest authorship, falsifications and fabrications, violations during the educational process, and corruption violations. It was determined that commonly used concepts are translated using transcoding and tracing, while more complex conceptual terms are transmitted using descriptive translation or combined methods. The system of responsibility for violations of academic integrity was studied. Conclusions. The features of the translation of terms denoting academic dishonesty are determined by the context of their use, the stability of Ukrainian equivalents, and the need to maintain terminological accuracy. A promising direction for further research is the development of a comprehensive English-Ukrainian dictionary of academic integrity terms, which will contribute to the standardisation of terminology and the implementation of international principles of academic integrity in the Ukrainian educational space.
ETHNOCULTURAL CODES OF THE AGASPHERE MYTHOLOGEME IN OLEKSA STOROZHENKO’S NOVEL “MARKO THE DAMNED”
The purpose of the study is to identify and describe the ethno-cultural codes of the Agasphere mythologeme that mark the Ukrainian identity of the dominant motif of immortality; to present literary tools adequate to the purpose and tasks of scientific research. Reactivating the meanings that have been dormant in a work of fiction requires an appropriate methodology. In our case, this is an interdisciplinary scientific paradigm based on a set of literary and linguistic methods, semiotic approaches to the study of cultural codes, namely methods of cross-cultural analysis (to compare universal and ethnospecific cultural codes of the Agasphere mythologeme); method of semiotic analysis (to clarify the sign nature of imagery and establish the mechanisms of interaction between different cultural codes); structural and semantic approach (to consider cultural codes in the structure of the verbal motif of immortality as such that perform a sign (symbolic) function in the process of communication); typological method (to distinguish similarities and differences in the cultural codes of the motif of immortality of the Agasfer mythologeme in the European and Ukrainian contexts). As a result of the scientific research, the approaches to the study of the cultural code as an interdisciplinary category and the identification of its typologies are generalized; the key strategies for deciphering the dominant ethno-cultural codes of the immortality motif that implement the Agasser mythologeme are identified. It is proved that the main ones in the structure of the immortality motif are the temporal and spiritual ethnocodes in “intercrossing” with zoomorphic, phytomorphic, anthropomorphic (anthropic), and object ethnocodes. The temporal and spatial cultural ethnocode is transversal to the novel and includes the chronotope of the road; the chronotope of the meeting; the chronotope of the threshold. It was found that the synthesis of cultural codes creates an ethnocentric picture of the world. It introduces the reader to the story of Mark the Damned’s sin against God and people, his wandering through time and space to atone for his guilt, the hero’s enlightenment on the way to establishing a dialogue with the Creator, and testifies to his accession to divine truth and order in the natural coordinates of life and death. The article analyzes the artistic realization of the conceptual foundations of ethnomentalism in the categories of good and evil, divine and devilish, sin and virtue, folk eschatology, identified in national semantics and topics, symbols, allusive and reminiscence layers of mythopoetics and Ukrainian folklore. The features of the literary Gothic idiom of O. Storozhenko’s idiostylistics are clarified in the categories of the eerie, macabre, irrational, supernatural, infernal, etc. The conclusions outline the specifics of cross-cultural communication between the Ukrainian wanderer and the image of Agasphere in Western European Romanticism, tracing typological similarities and differences. Observations on the mechanisms of reception and transformation of the immortality motif in the Agasfer mythologeme are generalized through the decoding of the novel’s ethnocodes, revealed in ethnomental axiology, semantics and poetics, which are significant for Ukrainian culture and the creative personality of Oleksa Storozhenko. The relevance of the methodology and tools aimed at highlighting the national identity of an artistic work through the actualization of ethnospecific cultural codes is confirmed.
SEMANTIC AND STYLISTIC FEATURES OF THE CONCEPT OF “TRAUMA” IN ELIZABETH STROUT’S NOVEL “OLIVE KITTERIDGE”
The purpose of the article is to explore the semantic and stylistic means of actualizing the concept of “trauma” in Elizabeth Strout’s novel “Olive Kitteridge”. Special attention is paid to the analysis of lexical and stylistic devices used to express the psychological and physical trauma experienced by the characters. Methods. The study employs methods of cognitive analysis, contextual analysis, as well as elements of stylistic and semantic analysis. These approaches allow for identifying specific linguistic patterns through which traumatic experience is verbalized in literary discourse. Results. The study identified the following categories of trauma: clinical psychological trauma (depression, nervous breakdowns, suicidal thoughts and attempts, post-traumatic conditions, addictions such as alcoholism and drug abuse); existential trauma (death of loved ones – violent or natural, suicide, widowhood, loss of a child or partner, relocation or estrangement from family); social trauma (neglect of children or parents, alienation from society, isolation in old age, unspoken family conflicts); childhood developmental trauma (physical or emotional abuse in childhood, parental devaluation, complex family dynamics, participation in traumatic events); psychosomatic trauma (somatic responses such as tremors, headaches, bodily pain, palpitations, and psychosomatic illnesses affecting the stomach, heart, or skin); trauma resulting from aggression and violence (physical abuse, psychological aggression, verbal humiliation, gaslighting, and dominantsubmissive relationships). Conclusions. The research clearly demonstrates that Elizabeth Strout uses both literal language (to name and describe trauma) and figurative language (to express how it feels) to bring the concept of trauma to life in her novel Olive Kitteridge. Through the use of direct nominations to describe the characters’ psycho-emotional and physical conditions, the author successfully conveys the complexity of their inner worlds. The semantic richness of the text contributes not only to the in-depth psychological portrayal of the characters but also to the creation of an original artistic reality in which the concept of “trauma” emerges as a central component of individual experience, memory, and identity.
DECONSTRUCTING OF UNRELIABLE NARRATION: AUTHORIAL CUES AND READER ENGAGEMENT (A STUDY OF ZOE HELLER’S “NOTES ON A SCANDAL”)
The study of unreliable narration, the identification of its features, and the development of a corresponding typology constitute significant contemporary concerns within literary studies. Modern literature provides a rich and inexhaustible resource for addressing these issues. One such example is Notes on a Scandal (2003) by contemporary American writer Zoë Heller. The novel’s plot centers on the relationship between a middleaged teacher at a London school and a fifteen-year-old student. The story is narrated by a character who is involuntarily involved in the events, ostensibly aiming to offer an objective account of the dramatic developments and to explain the nature and causes of the protagonist’s “fall”. The purpose of the study is to uncover the author’s strategies for deconstructing unreliable narration in Zoë Heller’s novel and to illustrate how readers can revise the narrator’s account of events through close reading of the text. Methodology. The analysis of Notes on a Scandal, with regard to its genre-specific characteristics and narrative structure (a diary novel incorporating elements of reminiscence and subjective reflection), is undertaken through the application of narratological analysis, reception theory, reader-response theory, and close reading techniques. Results. The analysis reveals several techniques employed in exposing the unreliable narrator: factual and logical inconsistencies within the narrative structure, the inclusion of off-plot episodes, unintentional disclosures, the narrator’s biased judgments, and the correction of her narrative by other characters. Conclusions. When approached through the lens of unreliable narration deconstruction, Notes on a Scandal may be interpreted as an exploration of various dimensions and manifestations of human obsession, as well as attempts to conceal and suppress these impulses both within the self and in the perception of external observers. In recounting the story of a middle-aged teacher’s obsession with a fifteen-year-old student, the narrator inadvertently reveals her own obsessive fixation on the protagonist of her story. While the “fall” of the plot’s protagonist is overt, the narrator’s own “fall” – despite her conscious and unconscious efforts to mask her biases, jealousy, resentment, and possessive tendencies – becomes apparent through careful reading and the deconstruction of the elements of unreliable narration.
POETICAL AND SONG APPLICATIONS IN MARYNA HRYMYCH’S NOVEL “KLAVKA”
Purpose. Intertextuality is an important element of the modern literary works. The purpose of the article is to analyze the functions of poetical and song excerpts in the famous Ukrainian writer Maryna Hrymych’s novels “Klavka” which describes the social and art processes in Ukraine in the 1940s shown through the reception of ordinary people at those times. Methods. The elements of the following methods are used in the research: cultural and historical (helps to investigate the functions of intertextual components in the process of representing the features of Ukrainian national character and historical epoch), aesthetic (allows analyzing novel as a phenomenon of literature and art), mythological (to cover the author’s reproduction of mythological images), hermeneutic (ensures free and open interpretation of the text with the possibility of new explanations), descriptive (systematization of intertextual elements in the writer’s text), intertextual (to elucidate the functions of poetical and song excerpts in the novel). The research is based on the general methods of analysis, synthesis, observation, selection, and systematization of the material. Results. The author of this article represented the results of the literary analysis of Maryna Hrymych’s novel “Klavka” by describing the role of poetical and song excerpts in creating the novel and expanding its chronotope. The writer’s applications are used as compositional elements and means of describing the characters and epoch as a symbol of lyric and song nature of Ukrainians. The excerpts contribute to the writer’s showing the problematic world of human relationships and feelings and special features of the social atmosphere in Ukraine in the 1940s. Thanks to applications, the author organizes herself and readers for a dialogue with other art systems. Conclusions. The intertextual dimension of Maryna Hrymych’s novels “Klavka” represents many poetical and song excerpts used with different strategical purposes to create the text. The author employs this material to reflect the face of the epoch and typical tendencies in social life and habits of Bohemia and ordinary people. The novel shows many intertextual forms (prose applications, fragments of documents, allusions, reminiscences, parodies, elements of stylization, and others) which should be considered in future studies.