The dissertation is dedicated to the study of the family novel genre in Ukrainian literature of the 21st century, which has recently become popular both among writers and among the reading audience. Based on the textual analysis of family novels of modern writers, the history of the development of this genre in Ukrainian and world literature, scientific receptions regarding the outlining of the features of the family novel as a separate genre in literary studies, its genre-stylistic features, content-creating and form-creating factors, problem-thematic spectrum, poetic methods are considered
The first chapter "The genre of the family novel in the context of the formation and development of novelism" traces the genesis and history of the genre of the family novel, its theoretical and methodological basis, outlines the methodology of transformations and modifications of the genre. According to scientists, this genre was started by T. Mann, who created the novel "The Buddenbrooks". The first family novel in Ukrainian literature appears earlier than in Western European literature. It is represented by the Russian-language work "Mr. Halyavskyi" by H. Kvitka-Osnovianenko. Still, the catalyst for the development of the family novel genre in Ukrainian literature is the novel "Lyuboratskyi" by A. Svidnytskyi, which depicts the decline of the family of the Ukrainian clergy in the middle of the 19th century. Classic family novels of the period of realism have the following features: a linear chronotype, the presence of the topos of the house (closed space), the conflict of generations, the decline of the patriarchal family, and the motif of the "prodigal son".
M. Bakhtin presented the theoretical and methodological basis of the study of the family novel genre. The scientist does not use the term "family novel", but verifies it as a "generational novel", outlines the problems of this genre, and emphasizes the importance of the "family idyll" and the peculiarities of the chronotype in such a novel. The components of the methodological basis are the works of foreign literary experts (K. Dell, R. Hedel, Y.-L. Ru) and scientific studies of domestic researchers on the theory of the development of the family novel genre (E. Nikolskyi, N. Porokhnyak, O. Grecheshnyuk, T. Grosevych).
The priority aspect of the study of the genre of the family novel is the movement of its genre forms, therefore, relying on the methodology of T. Bovsunivska, N. Kopistyanska, N. Bernadska regarding the definition of literary genres and their forms, the study proposed the concept of verification of the genre formation of the family novel according to the principle of the pattern (genre core): the pattern according to the content core should be a family novel, and its modifications should be a novel of generations, a family chronicle, a family saga, an anti-saga, a generational novel. The family novel is analyzed by its structure in terms of the relationship of artistic images to the outside world, that is, by the principle of centripetal and centrifugal structure.
The second chapter, "Artistic Models of Family Transformations in the Contemporary Family Novel," examines the problems of family life as interpreted by contemporary writers. The debunking of the myth of the ideal patriarchal family is represented by the saga in the short story "Almost Never the Other Way Around" by M. Matios, the poetics of which is original and complex: the short stories in the novel are deeply psychological but close to folk parables and detective stories. The search for truth, the self-discovery of a person, and the study of family history are the key problems of V. Shevchuk's historical family chronicle "The Disappearing Shadows", which are addressed by the writer through the prism of biblical intertextuality. The postmodern generational novel "Boarding" is interpreted as a transformation of the novel of upbringing. The main character, at the request of his father, takes responsibility and gathers together an incomplete family. He goes under fire to a boarding school in the occupied territory to save his nephew. The artistic images of the work are interpreted through the prism of existential modes. O. Katsarev's anti-saga "People in Nests" is considered an experiment with the genre form of a family novel. The author uses deconstruction as an artistic method: he experiments with the form of a family novel, but the writer does not violate the system of the genre core (the theme of preserving family values, family memory, respect for family and friends remains unchanged).
The third chapter of the dissertation "Family Saga as a Cultural Phenomenon in the Literature of the 21st Century: the Ukrainian Context" reveals the features of O. Zabuzhko's family saga "The Museum of Abandoned Secrets" in terms of the novel genre and postmodern epic poetics.
