HUMANIZATION AND OBJECTIFICATION AS MEANS OF ARTISTIC REPRESENTATION OF TRAUMA IN PETER YATSENKO’S NOVEL “MAGNETISM”

Abstract

The article deals with the specificity of artistic representation of man and society in the novel by modern Ukrainian writer Peter Yatsenko “Magnetism” (2020). The author of the article tries to consider the theme of trauma in the spectrum of poetics. The author of the article focuses on the specificity and functions of artistic means (humanization and objectification), which the Peter Yatsenko uses for creating an image of war, to show the problem of loss “small homeland”, individual psychology, pictures of the Ukrainian society in 2014. The article notes that although the topic of trauma is considered in different aspects, the common idea of trauma is a factor, a source of severe pain (physical/mental) of an individual/society, which affects world perception and affects the way of existence. Based on this, a conclusion is made regarding the relevance and prospects of such studies in modern Ukrainian literary studies. The article states that the main character is not an ordinary girl, thanks to her magical abilities she perceives everything that happens around her in a special way. The girl is able to hear thoughts and recognize the feelings of objects. In this way, their humanization is carried out in the novel. The novel humanized cities (Donetsk bleeds as a wounded creature, Kyiv is a kind uncle who can also be indifferent towards strangers) and arms (the projectile, the bullet). Personification acutalizes the mythopoetic aspect of the novel. The images of people are objectified, they are like things. The author does this to show the phenomena that become factors of traumatic experience (war, indifference of officials to migrants, total confidence in the media, intolerance towards people who think differently and have their own opinion. The author of the novel “Magnetism” plays with artistic images in antinomy “live – inanimate”. As a result, a special atmosphere is created, which is associated with the traditions of magical realism and encourages reflection on serious, important problems. Humanization and objectification are used by the writer to depict war.