THE CHARACTER-SYMBOL OF THE EUCHARIST IN VASIL BARKA’S WORK “ZHOVTYY KNYAZ” (“YELLOW PRINCE”)

Abstract

The article examines the influence of the Christian faith on human life, actions even in the most difficult circumstances of life, the meaning of the Eucharist and its manifestation in Ukrainian literature, in the lives of the heroes of the work. Vasyl Barka’s work “Yellow Prince” is studied from the point of view of the religious aspect, the appeal to which was noticeably intensified in the postcolonial period in fiction. With the help of comparative analysis we explain the meaning of the Eucharist in theology and Ukrainian literature, show the essence and depth of this meaning in people’s life, their actions, words, thoughts, instructions. We find out that the symbol of the bowl in the work performs the function of uniting people for a common goal – to preserve and protect the holy from the then ruling elite, its aggressive activities. In the article we analyze the following characters-symbols: the Eucharist, the bowl, the church, the bread, the Ukrainian house, the moon. We also give the connotative meaning of the yellow color-symbol. We characterize the symbol of love in the work, in terms of experience, worry and care for each other, the use of every opportunity to get food for relatives. In the article we find out that the heroes believe in the resurrection of man and are convinced that the dying soul passes to eternal better life, which is also a religious aspect of the study of the work. The article contains an excerpt from the priest’s sermon, which is the communion of the word, in order to show how important the church and the Eucharist were to the people. The sermon is a kind of message from God, reassurance for people and perception of the situation with all its consequences, the main of which is death – the destruction of the Ukrainian nation, genocide. The author clearly showed the attitude of the people to the then government and its evil intentions. The article analyzes the human condition in a situation of hunger, death and inability to combat violence. The significance of the religious aspect of this work makes it possible to claim that the heroes died for earthly life, but live in eternity.