Taboo: taboo topic in the "Sweet Darusya" M.Matios novel

Abstract

The article considered taboo as a concept that carries certain prohibitions and which has undergone significant changes over time. Taboos were imposed on certain topics, norms of behavior, words, sign, and so on. The aim of our study was to investigate the origins of taboos and identify them through a system of national psychological factors in the novel "Sweet Darussa" by M. Matios. The article presents an attempt to interpret taboos from modern positions and its embodiment in the artistic space of the work. The issue of taboos came from the field of linguistics and psychology, where thorough research was conducted by Yu. Demyanov, Y. Yelovska, I. Ignatenko, L. Kuragina, M. Lanovyk, R. Rada, Z. Freud and others. As a result of the study, it turned out that the taboo on the discussion of Ukrainian history, past events, namely the activities of the UPA in the novel can be traced at different levels: social, psychological, cultural, national. The author raises topics that have been silenced and banned for analysis: the occupation of the western lands of Ukraine by the Soviet authorities, brutal massacres of insurgents, deportation to Siberia, collectivization. The reproduction of these events in the plot of the novel encourages the author to search for a realistic image of taboo topics and achieve an emotionally expressive effect. This ensures the presence of tension in the work and encourages the intellectual and emotional work of the recipient. The taboo in the novel is shown as the opening of the usual framework of perception of reality. The characters of the work painfully experience life dramas, which are determined by psychological, social, cultural taboos that affect the fate of the main characters of the novel. In the future, it is worth considering other taboos that can be traced in certain words, symbols, behavior, traditions, such as taboos on privacy, personal opinion, "otherness" and so on. All this gives space for further research and analysis of the work of M. Mathios.