Olga Smolnytska. "The forest song" by Lesya Ukrainka and parallels in another literatures: from muth and folk-tale to fantasy.

Abstract

The text by Lesya Ukrainka is considered in a comparative aspect. The methods are: comparative literary studies, comparative mythology, phenomenology and analytical psychology. The material of Scandinavian, Celtic and other mythology is used. The Welsh tradition (the epos “Mabinogion”) is emphasized. The common features in the images of Mavka and the heroine of the Welsh myth, the flower maiden Bleudewedd, are revealed. The analysis of binary oppositions (nature/culture, artificial/natural etc.) is proposed. The attention is focused on the concept of the soul, moral and ethical problems. With the auxiliary purpose, the works of German Romanticism, Mikhail Bulgakov's story “The Dog's Heart” (the image of Sharikoff) are studied. Mythological heritage in the modern fantasy tradition (the image of Bleudewedd) is of interest. The results are presented in a visual form in the comparative tables. The article has theoretical and practical importance to literary criticism, philosophy, pedagogics and psychoanalysis.