У статті здійснено спробу комплексного аналізу біблійної основи роману Л. Мосендза «Останній пророк». Її інтерпретацію розглянуто
на трьох рівнях: сюжетному, образному і стилістичному. Висвітлено
сюжетний паралелізм роману і біблійного тексту. Визначено особливості авторської рецепції першоджерела: психологізацію, каузальну мотивацію фактів, заповнення «змістових лакун» оніричними візіями
та історичними екскурсами. Охарактеризовано образи голов них героїв
(Елісеби, Єгоханана) та наведено їхні старо- й новозавітні прообрази.
Окреслено стилістичну специфіку твору: використання художніх засобів Святого Письма, цитат, алюзій, сакральної лексики, антропонімів, топонімів, афоризмів.
The paper deals with the biblical prototext in L. Mosendz’s novel “The Last Prophet”. Th is
work focuses on the figure of John the Baptist making the most full coverage of the prophet’s
personality in Ukrainian literature. Besides the historical sources, the novel is based on the
ideological and aesthetic pattern of the Holy Scripture. However, the canonical text has
been significantly rethought.
The specifics of interpreting the biblical prototext in L. Mosendz’s novel have not yet
been the subject of special research, although many scholars paid attention to the biblical
basis of the work. Therefore, the purpose of the present paper is to highlight the peculiarities
of the biblical prototext embodied in the novel “The Last Prophet”. The analysis of the plot,
figurative and stylistic levels was necessary for achieving this goal.
At the plot level, the common and distinctive features of the biblical and fictional stories
of the John the Baptist’s life have been indicated. The distinctive features appeared to be
more numerous as the text of the novel complements rather than repeats the prototext (the
Gospel of Luke). Psychologization, the scholarly motivation of events, the manner of filling
“semantic gaps” with both oneiric visions and historical narrations are the specific features
in reproducing the biblical story.
The main characters of the work Jehohanan and Elizabeth, unlike original biblical characters,
are endowed with portrait characteristics and shown in the dynamics of age and spiritual
growth. Creating them, the author combines the Old and New Testament prototypes:
Eliseba — Sarah, the Mother of God; Jehohanan — David, Elijah, Isaiah, Moses, and
Messiah. In this context, the figure of Elizabeth appears as a generalized image of the
Mother, and the figure of Jehohanan — as a common image of the Prophet.
The sacred vocabulary, biblical anthroponyms, toponyms, aphorisms, stylistic figures of
inversion, amplification, gradation, etc. form the stylistic level of implementing the aesthetic
means of the Holy Scripture. Some biblical quotations are given as poetically modified and
emotionally characterized by the writer.
The biblical prototext secures ideological and aesthetic integrity for the novel but
doesn’t give the plot a strict direction. Although deeply rooted in the Holy Scripture, the
novel by Mosendz is a completely independent work on the search for values of a man, people,
and humanity.
