Female characters in Hanna Barvinok’s prose: a system of spiritual values

Abstract

In contemporary literary studies, the problems of studying the typology of characters are becoming more and more relevant. These characters demonstrate national priorities in mentality, habits and beliefs that have been inherent in the Ukrainian nation for centuries, transforming into original examples of integrity and the ability to resist external and internal circumstances. They serve as a guideline for Ukrainians who find themselves in difficult life situations today and are looking for a way out.
The creativity of Hanna Barvinok is an interesting example for analyzing and understanding of the typological picture of characterology in Ukrainian women’s prose of the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The writer started the theme of a woman with a strong moral core in literature. The author demonstrates her mastery of characterization by offering a variety of situations in which her heroines find themselves: from the problems of ordinary everyday life in a respectful family, to scenes where a woman finds herself the victim of a tyrant husband, a woman as a single mother (pokrytka), a lonely woman experiencing emotional drama, to a woman as an artist, and a woman as a fighter who, contrary to social norms, achieves recognition due to her determination and active vitality. Hanna Barvinok’s woman does not remain inert, her character and actions are determined by the logic of the «philosophy of the heart», which was widespread in the philosophical and literary thought of this era. It originates from the Bible, the works of Hryhorii Skovoroda, Panteleimon Kulish, and Hryhorii Kvitka-Osnovianenko. The idea of victory is heard where there is harmony, love, and respect, where God is. Christian morality and humility become decisive for the actions of the heroines who find themselves in a crisis situation.
The problem of studying the Ukrainian mentality, the Ukrainian soul, has become widespread in the works of philosophers, psychologists, and cultural scientists who find explanations for specific actions of people in different historical epochs. The works of Viktoriia Khramova, Oksana Kis, and Iryna Kryvonos contributed to a better understanding of the actions and characters of the heroines in Hanna Barvinok’s prose.