Banovska Daria Kostiantynivna. Verbalization of Autochthonous Mythologemes in Ukrainian Metamodern Prose. Qualifying scholarly work submitted as a manuscript.
Dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Field of Study 03 Humanities, Specialty 035 Philology. Kamianets-Podilskyi Ivan Ohiienko National University. Kamianets-Podilskyi, 2026.
The dissertation is devoted to a comprehensive linguistic study of the means of verbalization, structural-semantic organization, and functional significance of autochthonous Ukrainian mythologems within the artistic discourse of metamodern prose. The study substantiates linguoculturological and anthropocentric approaches to the analysis of literary texts, which allows the mythologem to be qualified as a basic unit of the nation’s linguistic-cultural code.
The artistic discourse of metamodernism is defined as a specific communicative space characterized by an oscillation between the modernist pursuit of meaning and postmodern irony, as well as between naivety and self-awareness. In this context, the autochthonous mythologem ceases to be merely a marker of archaism or an ethnographic element; it transforms into a dynamic instrument for the cognition and interpretation of contemporary reality. The dissertation proves that the actualization of mythopoetic vocabulary in 21st-century prose is a reaction to the identity crisis and constitutes a search for new spiritual landmarks in the context of global challenges and war.
The conceptual and terminological apparatus of the research has been systematized. Concepts such as mythologem, mythonym, ideologem, symbol, and concept are interpreted. It is established that a mythologem is a multilevel linguocultural unit representing a verbalized, condensed myth that retains symbolic, worldview-related, and cultural functions. It is capable of unfolding into plot lines or motifs within the text, thereby ensuring the intertextual depth of the work. A mythonym is defined as the proper name of a mythological character, object, or locus, serving as the nominative core of the mythologem, whereas the concept of the mythologem is broader, encompassing appellative vocabulary, phraseology, and symbolic images. It is determined that autochthonous mythologems are formed on the basis of traditional Ukrainian perceptions; they combine pre-Christian animistic beliefs, demonology, and the Christian worldview, forming a unique «dual-belief» (dvoeverie) mental space.
A systematic analysis of lexico-semantic groups of mythologems identified in the corpus of contemporary Ukrainian prose was conducted. Substantive mythologems, classified by thematic groups, demonstrate the highest frequency and functional activity. The first group consists of demononyms – names of creatures of «lower mythology» (mavka, chuhayster, domovyk, potercha, vovkulaka, perelesnyk, etc.). The study demonstrates that in metamodern texts, these images are reinterpreted: they distinctly lose their negative evaluation as «unclean forces» and are frequently humanized, endowed with human traits and psychological depth, acting as bearers of ethical categories or guardians of natural harmony.
The second group is formed by theonyms and hagionyms (names of saints) (God, angel, saint, etc.), which undergo active secularization, «intimization», or a lowering of pathos in artistic speech by being introduced into a domestic context – a hallmark of metamodern sincerity. The third group comprises names of persons endowed with magical abilities (molfar, witch, healer, fortune teller, characternyk – cossack sorcerer-warrior, etc.). A separate layer is formed by mythologems of space and time (the otherworld, crossroads, threshold, night, twilight, full moon, etc.), which serve in the artistic narrative as markers of the characters' liminal states and points of transition between real and otherworldly realms, structuring the chronotope of the work according to vertical and horizontal models.
The role of verbal and deverbative mythologems in structuring the narrative is investigated; in metamodern texts, these often transform everyday situations into sacral or mystical acts and are used metaphorically to denote psychological influence.
Thus, the mythologem in contemporary Ukrainian metamodern artistic discourse plays the role of a key element of the linguocultural space, ensuring the preservation of ethnocultural continuity, the formation of new evaluative, symbolic, and emotional-psychological meanings, as well as the modeling of complex narrative and compositional structures. Its dynamism and capacity for reinterpretation make the mythologem an important instrument for the interaction of tradition and innovation in literary texts.
Keywords: archetype; expressivity; metamodern prose; concept; metaphor; myth; mythologeme; mythology; mythonym; linguistic worldview; linguoculturology; transformation of phraseological units; stylistic function; phraseological unit; literary discourse.
