The dissertation analyzes the development of the floristic discourse in the literary tradition from antiquity to XX century, that gives comprehension of specificity and dynamics of changes in plant imagery during the centuries. In particular, the extent and nature of the influence of the context of the era on the semantics and functioning of floristic imagery, especially in the stylistic sense, are clarified. On the basis of the works of writers from different literary periods, it is determined that the trends in floristic imagery were not stood out as dynamic up to a certain point. This is due to the fact that the authors did not find new floronyms to express ideas or feelings, but used the armamentarium developed by their predecessors. This stability is the main reason to recognise the «solidification» of the figurative vocabulary and to define modernism as a stage of its radical rethinking and transformation. Comparison of the authors' artistic worlds, immersion in the complex unstable of poetry and comprehension of the reflection degree of life experience in creativity, identification of different approaches to imagery opened up new horizons for the study of plant imagery.
In the first chapter, the analysis of the evolution of plant images in European poetic culture from antiquity to the twentieth century allowed us to identify trends in the development of floristic imagery in the contextual fields of the historical and literary process. The origin of the allegorical way of depicting plants dates back to ancient literature, where mythology is at the core of everything. Allegorisation was an element of the reproduction of philosophical ideas of natural harmony and divine presence, because the metamorphoses that took place with the characters of myths were carried out by the will of the gods. Floristic design acquires a deeper moral and religious meaning in view of the radical change in beliefs during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, as Christian values almost replaced the ancient ones. The priority use of plant images in the religious sphere led to the convergence of the concepts of their allegory and symbolism.
The needs of the author’s self-expression caused am emphasis of plant images. Overlaying of semantic shades with a relatively stable armamentarium of floronyms, which was formed based on a tradition, led to formation “monolith” image and its meaning. The active referring to love theme, which probably had the biggest prosperity in chivalry poetry and lyrics of troubadours, indicated the occurrence additional shades in the semantic flowers in the first place – the impact of emotional aspect became noticeable. The woman-flower occupied the role of a key character in the lyrics of different literary periods, she was the part of the cult of lady’s heart, that was connected with motives of passionate, but usually unrequited love.
In the second chapter the beginning of XX century is described as period of intense stylistic search in the artwork of Ukrainian writers. The majority of the artists are in the in-between state, as they couldn’t get rid of the attraction to tradition in their innovative efforts. The Modernism was declared by writers quite in the deliberate and determined way, but its implementing was inhomogeneous and inconsistent. The outlined crossroad of the ideas caused phenomena of neo-romanticism, neo-realism, neo-classicism, that appeared stages within artistic evolution, which were preceded by development of high modernism. In this research they are interpreted as premodernistic or early modernistic movements.
The third chapter of the dissertation is dedicated to the research of floristic discourse of Lesya Ukrainka’s lyrics – the revealing of evolution and her creative selfmovement. The imagery system of poet’s early lyrics defines her as a romantic artist with pretty typical plant allegories, symbols and metaphors. But Lesya Ukrainka gradually implemented new floronyms to poetic vocabulary – she was forming original ideas and new ways of creating images. Besides updated symbols, allegories and metaphors, the author creates neologisms as well, which became the concepts and played the key role in reflecting processes of understanding the world and oneself. Tragic life events became a peculiar point of no return, a catalyst for becoming Lesya Ukrainka as a symbolist, and therefore expanding imagery system, addition and expressiveness her ideas, particularly in the gender direction.
The study demonstrates that thanks to the introduction of floristic discourse into the scientific field, it was possible to trace and clarify the interconnections between plant images and the content and form of the lyrics of M. Voronyi, P. Karmanskyi, O. Oles, Y. Pluzhnyk, O. Liaturynska, D. Vikonska, and Lesya Ukrainka.
