Міфологізм новел Федора Потушняка «Капелюх із зеленим пером», «Упир», «В мочарах»

Abstract

Interest in Ukrainian folklore and mythology of Transcarpathia had a signifcant impact on F. Potushnyak’s artistic work. In particular, demonological images, folk beliefs, and magical rituals became an organic part of the writer’s novels and stories, appearing in each work to a greater or lesser extent. The purpose of the article is to analyze the mythological images of F. Potushnyak’s novels “A Hat with a Green Feather”, “The Ghoul”, “In Mochars”, to trace the influence of folk beliefs of Ukrainians of Transcarpathia on the modeling of the artistic reality of the works, to fnd out the psychological basis of the images-characters and images-symbols in the novels. The topic of the article is relevant since the mythological aspects of the novels “The Hat with a Green Feather”, “The Ghoul”, and “In Mochars” have not yet been the object of literary research. F. Potushnyak’s works are little researched and at the same time extremely deep and philosophical. The writer sought to penetrate the inner world of his characters, to understand their unconscious thoughts, desires, and various fears and phobias. In Fedir Potushnyak’s short stories “A Hat with a Green Feather”, “The Ghoul”, “In Mochars” we see the matrix of the human soul, the transformation of human behavior under the influence of fears, phobias, superstitions, folk beliefs, through the prism of mystical events and mythological images. In these works, the writer appears as a real psychologist, able to trace the details of the mental experiences and emotional movements of the heroes, he weaves into the canvas of his works images-symbols that express the mysticism and tragedy of situations (blocks, crows, owls). F. Potushnyak artistically and convincingly interprets folk beliefs about foresters, ghouls, and devils in the plots of novels. And these images become a metaphorical mirror in which the tragedy of human destinies is reflected (Polania, who dies because of fear of a man in a hat with a green feather; Ivan, who kills an innocent; Pavlo, who is obsessed with fear, cuts off the head of an owl). The heroes of the novels undergo a kind of test with mystical encounters, the experience of contact with an unknown sphere of life. The article analyzes the artistic reception of folk beliefs of Transcarpathian Ukrainians about spirits and demons based on folklore and ethnographic research about ghouls, devils, and hypocrites by G. de Vollan, P. Bogatyrev, P. Svitlyk, and F. Potushnyak. The article clarifes the psychological basis of delusions, dreams, and actions of the heroes of the works; it traces the specifcs of the objectifcation of the Shadow archetype in borderline situations in which the characters fnd themselves. Emphasis is made on magical rituals aimed at neutralizing demons