DEFORMATION OF THE MELODRAMA GENRE IN UKRAINIAN POSTMODERN LITERATURE: IREN ROZDOBUDKO AND NATALIA HURNYTSKA

Abstract

In the conditions of postmodernism, the content and formative components of the melodrama genre (issues, portrayal, narration, plot structure, system of characters, type of protagonist) undergo certain transformations. Today, there is a lack of literary studies devoted to the specifics of the expression of postmodern melodramatism in the works of contemporary writers, namely representatives of “women’s literature” by N. Hurnytska and I. Rozdobudko. Accordingly, there is a need to understand the deformational genre shifts that took place in melodrama under the influence of postmodernist aesthetics. Thus, the relevance of the chosen topic is motivated by the need to analyze the signs of melodramatism in Ukrainian prose and the need to reveal the problem-thematic and genre-stylistic features of melodrama in the context of Ukrainian postmodern literature. The purpose of the work is to study the processes of deformation of the melodrama genre in Ukrainian postmodern literature (based on the works of Irene Rozdobudko and Natalia Hurnytska). Achieving the set goal involves solving a number of tasks, such as: determining the artistic specificity of the melodrama genre; understanding the melodramatic specificity of the works of Irene Rozdobudko (the novel “Once Upon a Time...”) and Natalia Hurnytska (the novel “The Melody of Coffee in the Tonality of Cardamom”) in the context of postmodern aesthetics; elucidation of the peculiarities of representation in both works of typically melodramatic genre features and specifically authorial ones. To achieve the goal, historical-literary, cultural-historical, comparative, hermeneutic, biographical research methods are involved. The development of melodrama at the current stage is determined by postmodern trends in the literary process, as well as the existence of “women’s writing” as an artistic and aesthetic phenomenon, within which the specified genre functions. A comparative analysis of two examples of melodrama in modern Ukrainian literature (the novel “The Melody of Coffee in the Tonality of Cardamom” by Natalia Hurnytska and the novel “Once Upon a Time...” by Irene Rozdobudko) made it possible to conclude that the indicated signs of melodramatism are clearly presented in both works. At the same time, the studied literary works are significantly different from each other, which makes it possible to consider them as certain modifications of the melodrama genre: Natalia Hurnytska’s work is immersed in the historical and cultural atmosphere of the 19th century, and the leading role in it is played by the motive of unequal love of a young girl for a much older, wealthy man; the plot of the novel unfolds around a “love triangle” and has a “happy end”, it is marked by emotional aggravation and the outburst of passions. In the novel by Irene Rozdobudko, autobiographical and confessional motifs are leading, which are written into the modern context related to the life and creative plans of the author and their implementation. At the same time, this work raises a significant range of problems related to selfrealization, achieving a set goal, success and failure, creative activity, the transience of human life, etc. Accordingly, the heroine of the novel by Irene Rozdobudko appears more diverse, while the interests of the heroine of the novel by N. Hurnytska are limited to marriage and children. Therefore, the evolutionary changes experienced by the genre of melodrama in the 21st century are characterized by the loss of established melodramatic features (excessive sharpness of the plot, bright contrast, schematic character images, the theme of the struggle between good and evil disappear); a new – postmodern – angle of understanding the traditional thematic and stylistic aspects of the melodramatic genre: immersion in private life, themes of love and marriage, sentimentality and heightened emotionality; strengthening of psychologism in understanding the images of the characters; actualization of philosophical and confessional motives. There is a shift in emphasis from dialogues to internal monologues, from plot vicissitudes to character images (there is an emphasis on character images, in particular, female rebels functioning within “formulaic” plots and situations). The melodramatic genre acquires pronounced features of postmodern aesthetics. The type of orphan heroine traditional for melodrama is transformed into the type of “absurd heroine-rebel woman” characteristic of the postmodern aesthetic paradigm, the final “happy end” gives way to the variability of the denouement traditional for postmodernism. The canonical genre structure of melodrama is destroyed as a result of the infiltration of elements of postmodern poetics – genre eclecticism (synthesis of melodrama with everyday and psychological drama), intertextual connections, intermediality (features of “musicality” and “cinematography” of the style), irony and playing with the reader.

Keywords

• melodrama
• postmodernism
• genre deformation
• formulaic plot
• character image