Danyliuk-Tereshchuk T. Mythocritical discourse of the demonological imagery in the literature of Ukrainian romanticism.

The thesis highlights the peculiar issues of interpretation and relaying of demonological images in the works of Ukrainian romanticists. It is the first systematic study of the most important aspects of interpretations and relaying of demonological images (mermaids, the dead, werewolves, devil, witches) in the Ukrainian literary criticism concerning the creative work of Ukrainian romanticists. Folklore sources, author’s genuine field recordings, have been integrated into the case-study research and have been introduced into scientific circulation for the first time. In the work the images of folk demonology are considered from the standpoint of the mythic-critical approach. The transformation of images is revealed through the transition from oral to written tradition with the emphasis on the archetypal content of the images of mermaids, witches, devil, the dead, werewolves and their psychoanalytic interpretation is suggested. The importance is placed on the main stages of the European myth criticism development. The research has utilized the method of archetypal analysis suggested by K. G. Jung. The myth-criticism method has been applied to the texts of Ukrainian romanticism, since it was this epoch that gave an impulse to the scientific understanding of folklore, which began with collecting oral poetic samples and the extensive adaptation of such material in fiction. Interdependence of folklore and literary creation is characterized by a phenomenon known as literary folklorism. It concerns not only the direct or indirect use of folklore elements in the artistic text, but also the direct involvement of the author in fixing such a factology.