LYRICAL EPICS ABOUT THE HOLODOMOR: FROM IDEA TO MANIFESTATION

Abstract

The article explores the relationship between poetics and the characteristics of the creative process that led to the emergence of lyric-epic texts about the Great Famine. The study is based on the concept of psychological sublimation, which involves the embodiment of an individual’s creative potential through the transformation of acquired experience from the subliminal mind into cognitive patterns. By examining the life dramas of literary masters through the lens of this mental mechanism, the research establishes that the trajectories of creative aspirations of authors of Holodomor-centric lyric-epics are characterized by a common direction. They unfold under the shared denominator of psychological trauma and its resonance within the sociocultural dimension. There are two principal vectors of literary aspiration: the articulation and perpetuation of suffering. These are linked to the psychotherapeutic, memorial, ideological, and nation-building functions of literature. Their origins lie in primary and secondary traumatization, as well as postmemory. The study reveals that the interplay of these factors is governed by temporal parameters. Peaks in creative activity occurred in the 1930s, the 1960s–1970s, and the 1990s–2000s. These chronological periods correspond to the decades of Stalinist repressions, the flourishing of émigré literature, and the era of Ukraine’s independence – each marked by distinct socio-historical dynamics that influenced the mental states of writers and, consequently, their works. In light of this, through engagement with trauma studies and deconstruction, the article analyzes the poetics of lyric-epic works on the Great Famine. The study finds that differentiation among these texts is clearly traceable at the levels of content, tone, and structure. The artistic expressions of the eyewitness generation are more intense and expressive, tending toward introversion and self-reflection. These texts convey raw and unfiltered emotions. In contrast, the poetic works from the era of postmemory are characterized by an external focus on the suffering of others, reflecting national tragedy, adopting an extroverted and nation-centered perspective, and being refined in accordance with sociocultural expectations. These distinctions also influence formal plane. As a result, the study describes the process by which literary masters transformed their creative intentions into Holodomor-centric lyric-epics. The article also identifies the origins of the key formal and content features of that genre-thematic group.