У статті розглядається трилогія «Ost» Уласа Самчука як жанровий
різновид родинної хроніки, з'ясовуються питання жанрової природи,
співвідношення твору з традиціями класичного українського роману
й новітніми формами роману ХХ століття. Наголошується на його
взаємозв'язку з концепцією «великої літератури», а також ідейно-естетичними поглядами У. Самчука. Крім того, досліджуються поняття покоління та роду, проблема взаємин між генераціями, кожна з яких
відіграє власну роль у складній драмі родової та національної історій.
The paper considers the trilogy of novels by Ulas Samchuk “Ost” as a genre variety of a family
chronicle. Th e main issues are its genre nature, correlation of the work with traditions
of the classic Ukrainian novel and the modern novel forms, its relation to the concept of
“high literature”, the ideological and aesthetic views of the author.
The main point of the paper is the interpretation of Ulas Samchuk’s novel as an attempt
to implement the idea of high literature substantiated by him. The concept of high literature
in Ulas Samchuk’s sense is related to the concept of classical literature, and the very idea of
literary work in exile is connected with the idea of the lost statehood.
The realistic basis of Ulas Samchuk’s novels originates in his understanding of realism
as an artistic style and principle of depicting reality, the “universal key to the door of reality”.
At the same time, the researcher testifies to the blurring of style shapes in Ulas Samchuk’s
postwar prose and points to the combination of realistic traditions and modernist tendencies
in it.
Focusing on the concept of generation and family in the novel, the author emphasizes
the relations between the generations, because each one plays its significant role in the complex
drama of the family and national histories. The family, as the subject of action and one
of the main actors in the theater of history, becomes a symbolic embodiment of the trauma
generated by history.
The notion of idyllic chronotope is connected with the sacred space of family, the motive
of searching harmony. The basic element of such chronotope is the topos of hamlet as a
form of ideal national existence. Th e idea of destroying the hamlet during the revolution is
related to the process of destroying the family idyll. In general, the history of Moroz’s family
in Ulas Samchuk’s novel is a reflection of the national history, and the destroyed space of
the family is a field in which the Soviet totalitarianism repressive mechanisms were tested.
