Shabal K. Genre-stylistic features of modern Ukrainian political novel

The object: the prose texts by V. Baranov «Zaplava» («Flood Plain»), P. Zagrebelnyj «Brukht» («Scrap waste»), R. Ivanychuk «Krayna Irrelenta» («The Country of Irredent»), «Mandryvky do Aberfaylyu» («Journey to Aberfayl»), L. Kostenko «Zapysky Ukrayinsʹkoho Samashedshoho» («Notes of the Ukrainian By-himself-going»), M. Matios «Mister i Missis YU-Ko v Krayini Ukriv» («Mr. and Mrs. Yu-Ko in the Country of Ukriv»), Y. Shcherbak «Chas Smertokhrystiv. Mirazhi 2077 Roku» («The Time of Christothanatists: Mirages 2077. Mirages of 2077»), «Chas Velykoyi Hry. Fantomy 2079 Roku» («The Great Game Time. Phantoms of 2079»), «Chas Tyrana. Prozrinnya 2084 Roku» («Time of the Tyrant. The Enlightenment of 2084»). The results and the novelty: for the first time in the Ukrainian literary criticism the notion of political novel as a genre invariant is defined; genre-style features of a political novel are determined; its peculiarities of form and content are substantiated; a place in the hierarchical system of the novel typology is shown; the classification of genre modifications on the examples of contemporary Ukrainian works is presented. The analysis of contemporary political novels complements and improves a coherent picture of the research perception of the Ukrainian prose writers works in the literary process of the XX-XXIst centuries, outlining new aspects of the historical and literary discourse of the writers – the authors of the analysed works. The sphere of application: the materials can be used in teaching the course of the Ukrainian literature history, in delivering specialized courses and specialized seminars, in optional courses on the Ukrainian literature history in schools with in-depth study of humanities.