REPRESENTATION OF SHAKESPEAREAN INTERTEXTUALITY IN BORYS FYNKELSHTEYN’S ‟O VENICE...!”

Abstract

In the article, the author has examined the manifestations of Shakespearean intertextuality in B. Fynkelshteyn’s «O Venice!...». The features of the literary representation of the main character Shlomo are analyzed in the context of the specifics of his profession and belonging to the Jewish religion. The forms of transformation of the story plot are discussed, in particular, these changes are analyzed in relation to the pretext drama – the play «The Merchant of Venice» by W. Shakespeare. From the point of view of the Jewish religious tradition, the worldview guidelines of Shlomo (Shakespeare’s Shylock) are outlined, the character’s demands regarding the return of the loan are substantiated, and the rejection of the motif of cruelty that was exploited in the original Shakespearean work and that is rejected by the contemporary author, is discussed. The individual author’s model regarding the interaction of historical material and fiction in a literary work is studied. The phenomenological aspects of the work of the Ukrainian writer are outlined and it is proposed to consider the story «O Venice!..» in the paradigm of approaches of new historicism that is determined by the author’s effort to reconstruct the history of his own family history and reflect this model of alternative history in the analyzed story. The philosophical features of B. Fynkelshteyn’s writing strategy are characterized that determined the motif and plot specifics of the story that is a manifestation of post-postmodern Shakespearean intertextuality. In the article, that author has emphasized the Jewish component that determines the patterns of behaviour and forms of interaction between the characters. It is stressed that the Ukrainian Shakespearean discourse is developed in the 21st century, revealing the worldview features of a new cultural and historical situation. The author has analyzed the author’s attempt to revise the historical material and reconstruct Shlomo’s image in the context of metamodern aesthetics. The concept of authenticity is defined as the key one in Fynkelshteyn’s «O Venice!..» that is consistent with the epistemological basis of metamodernism as a new direction of literature.