"THAIS" BY A. FRANCE – "THE CITY" BY V. PIDMOHYLNYI: JOINT POINTS

Abstract

Introduction. The article focuses on the study of epigraph's role from the novel "Thais" by A. France in the process of interpreting the novel "The City" by V. Pidmohylnyi. Besides, the problems associated with the reception of the works of A. France in Ukraine and the contribution of V. Pidmohylnyi to the translation of the French prose of 19th – early 20th centuries are actualized. Purpose. The purpose of the article is to study the peculiarities of the functioning of epigraphs in the novel "The City" by V. Pidmohylnyi, to find parallels between the works of French and Ukrainian writers in the fields of psychology, art world modeling, plot creation. Results. To the novel "The City" V.Pidmohylnyi had chosen two epigraphs. The first is a mysterious motto from the Talmud; the second ("How can one be free, Eucrites, when you have a body?") is borrowed from the novel “Thais" by F. France. It is a well-known fact that V. Pidmohylnyi had the profound knowledge of the work of French fiction writer. In 1921, the writer finished translating the novel "Thais" into Ukrainian and wrote the introduction to it. The translation was published in 1927, just when the novel "The City" was completed. If we take into account the information directly expressed in the epigraph, the attention of the recipient will be concentrated on the existential problem of freedom / non-freedom. If, however, the epigraph is interpreted as a metonymic sign of the prototext, it will significantly expand the interpretation parameters. At the very first, attention is drawn to the common motive for both novels: the journey to a big city and the temptation that arises there. Both characters have a noble purpose, but they couldn't resist temptation and failed: Paphnutius saved Thais, but he got morally lost; Stepan Radchenko tried to conquer the city, but in fact he was a victim. Both characters hate the City, both are losing here their inner purity and harmony of world perception. At the end of the novel in the life of Radchenko appears his own "Thais" - ballerina Ryta. The image of the poet Vyhorskyi somewhat correlates with the figures of the philosophers from the novel by the French writer. As R.Movchan rightly emphasizes, "philosophical doubts" of the French thinker A. France were in tune with life values and outlook of V. Pidmohylnyi. Obviously, it was French novelist, who taught his younger Ukrainian colleague to regard a man as a whole complex world where physiological, emotional, and social aspects were combined. Originality. The scientific novelty of the study is specified by attempts to interpret the second epigraph to V.Pidmohylnyi's novel "The City”, and also by establishing intertextual correlations between the works of Ukrainian and French novelists. Conclusion. It was found out that the second epigraph in the novel of V. Pidmohylnyi should not be taken literally, interpreting only the message inserted; the links between the prototext and the recipient text are much deeper. The matter is about V.Pidmohylnyi's assimilation of artistic achievements of the French prose writer in the field of characters creation, art world modeling and plot creation. Motto from A. France's work performs several important functions in "The City": advertising (attracts attention to translation), "educational" (invites the reader to get acquainted with the prototext), "communicative", reveals the links between the text "donor" and "recipient ".