THE RECEPTIVE INTERPRETATION OF THE NOVEL “THE CITY” BY VALERIAN PIDMOHYLNY IN THE NOVELLA “YOU” BY OLENA ZVYCHAYNA

Abstract

This article analyzes the artistic dialogue between the novella “You” by Olena Zvychayna and the novel “The City” by Valerian Pidmohylny through the lens of the protagonist Vira Ilchenko’s perception of the novel’s images and motifs. The study aims to reveal the literary polemics between the two texts, uncovering new aspects of the novel’s interpretation and demonstrating Olena Zvychayna’s stance on the author’s suppression of the truth about his era. The methodological foundation of the research is an interpretative approach to the analysis of literary text, which allows for tracing how the novella “You” engages in dialogue with the novel “The City”, revealing various semantic levels through the protagonist’s inner monologue. Additionally, a receptive method is applied to examine how the reader (specifically, the heroine of Olena Zvychayna’s work) comprehends and responds to Pidmohylny’s text. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the first-ever detailed analysis of the literary conflict between the characters of the two works: Stepan Radchenko from “The City” and Vira Ilchenko from “You”. The research traces the differences in the characters’ worldviews, moral orientations, and life values. Special attention is given to the parallel between Stepan Radchenko and another character from “You”, Stepan Panchenko, whose similarity to Pidmohylny’s character is emphasized even at the level of their names, reinforcing the motif of betrayal and moral weakness. The conclusions explore how Olena Zvychayna’s critical reading of “The City” serves as a means to address the artist’s responsibility to society, moral nonconformism, and truth. The study reveals that Vira Ilchenko’s internal conflict embodies a rejection of compromises with one’s conscience, in contrast to Stepan Radchenko’s moral flexibility. The presented receptive interpretation shows that the artistic polemics between the two works serve as a tool for exposing the moral ambiguity of the era and revealing the illusory nature of Soviet reality, as reflected in “The City”.