The thesis is devoted to the study of allusions in the Ukrainian postmodern artistic texts. The object of study is allusions in the Ukrainian postmodern artistic texts. The functional-semantic aspect, according to the fixed material, is the most effective for a full description of the linguistic nature and functional potential of allusions. The paper describes the theoretical foundations and principles of the study of allusions, analyses the main approaches and directions in the study of the concept of “allusion”. From the standpoint of linguocognitology, allusion is qualified as a reference to the praetexta (events, situations, characters, individuals) that arises on the basis of a presupposition and is explicated in the recipient text in the form of names, utterances, fragments, that are often semantically and structurally modified.In the Ukrainian postmodern artistic texts, allusiveness is considered as a new principle of artistic reality creating, and allusion becomes a postmodern phenomenon. The signs of postmodern allusion include deformation of structure and of semantics, codification, presuppositional contradiction, a means of pun. This is explained primarily by the interaction of allusion with context.Allusion identification is possible due to markers that are verbal notation in the form of names, numbers, lexemes that signal for the recipient that the allusion is present in the text.The analysis of the texts showed that the functions of allusive units can be combined into complexes, namely: sense-generalization, emotionally-expressive. For the first time, the conceptual and text-forming functions of allusions have been investigated. It has been found out that allusion in the postmodern artistic text is a means of appeal to the linguocultural concept, its perceptual and figurative component. About the conceptual function, allusion reflects the spiritual memory and heritage of the people. Allusion in the text-forming function becomes a structural means of formulating an expression, a fragment of the text, the whole works, and serves as a construct for forming the text-recipient or its individual parts. According to the semantic criterion there are defined untransformed and partially transformed allusions. Untransformed allusive units are qualified as ones preserving primary semantics; partially transformed allusions change the meaning, assimilating in a new context. Functional-semantic analysis shows the presence of a national-cultural linguistic component in the semantics of allusions. The semantic structure of allusive names and allusive proper names can be expanded and adjusted internally by textual links.
