The dissertation is dedicated to a comparative study of the prose of Slavic female writers at the turn of the 20th-21st centuries, reflecting the global cultural trend towards comprehending the problems of memory. The material of the consists of prose works by Ukrainian writers such as O. Zabuzhko, M. Matios, S. Andrukhovych, Croatian writers D. Ugrešić, S. Drakulić, M. Kolanović, Polish author O. Tokarczuk, Belarusian writer S. Alexievich, Serbian author M. Bobić-Mojsilović, and Czech author K. Tuchkova.
The relevance of the dissertation is determined by the increasing interest in memory issues, which are crucial not only for literary studies but also for art and other academic disciplines: history, sociology, psychology, gender studies etc. In the context of the Russian-Ukrainian war and other civilizational challenges of our time, the contemplation of the past becomes particularly relevant, and one of the key roles in this process is played by literary writing. A comparative study of literary memory reception in the prose of Slavic women writers will deepen our understanding of the interaction between memory and literature, highlight the specificity of the female perspective in narrative creation, and outline the national and historical-political features of reflecting historical experience in literature.
The thesis characterizes the theoretical foundations of research on the relationships between memory and literature, as laid out in the works of J. Assmann and A. Assmann, P. Ricoeur, P. Nora, and others; outlines different views on the relationship between memory (both individual and collective) and writing as interrelated cultural phenomena. Attention is drawn to the specificity of the historical period – the late 20th to early 21st centuries – as a time of conceptual changes in the understanding of memory, when memory emerged as a forefront factor of identity, a source of historical justice, and a tool of propaganda, etc.
The peculiarities of women's reinterpretation of history and the formation of a female narrative of the past, reflected in the prose of Slavic women writers, are highlighted. It is demonstrated that the active advance of women's prose in Slavic literatures marked the articulation of an alternative narrative of the past – the silenced memory of marginalized groups: national, social, gender ones. This observation is underscored by the highlighted features of the public reception of the works (and personalities) of the authors selected for study.
The national specificity of feminist issues raised in the context of memory in the analyzed works is examined within the historical-political context, taking into account the processes of colonization and decolonization, liberation struggles, and the establishment of independence by national communities, as well as wars and conflicts. Specifically, it is traced how the feminist discourse in Ukrainian literature intertwines with issues of postcolonialism and the assertion of national identity, whereas in Polish and Croatian literatures, the anti-patriarchal discourse is distinctly anti-nationalist. The memorial perspective of each writer is characterized by individual and national specificity, influenced by the particular historical experiences of their homelands. However, the overall orientation towards alternative narratives to the dominant discourse, as well as numerous conceptual and aesthetic similarities, provide a common context for the study of their work.
The theme of memory in the works of Slavic women writers is characterized by distinct gender marking. In the novels by O. Zabuzhko, S. Andrukhovych, and S. Alexievich, the artistic genderization of the sphere of memory is manifested in assigning women the role of guardians of national memory. Within the context of this role, specific female images in the examined novels are characterized: the image of a heroine symbolically lifting the colonial curse of "kateryna" from Ukrainian women (Darina Hoshchynska in the novel "The Museum of Abandoned Secrets" by O. Zabuzhko); the image of a woman as a demiurge who creates, tells, and imposes a certain myth (Romana in "Amadoka" by S. Andrukhovych).
The main features of the female space of memory are: the importance of the domestic microcosm juxtaposed with the public sphere; attention to the bodily dimension of life; the perception of "women's memory" as opposed to the canon – whether imperial narrative or the Soviet myth of the Great Victory. Women in the prose of Slavic writers about memory are mostly perceived as special agents of memory, whose superior "memory capacity" (O. Zabuzhko) or the "lens speed" of memory (S. Alexievich) is determined by their specific female corporeality and ability to give birth and raise children, attention to the microcosm of the home – or the small life of "small people", intensive sensitivity and the ability to experience strong emotions, and engagement in intimate relationships.
