IN SEARCH OF IDENTITY (BASED ON THE STORY BY MARKO VOVCHOK “KATERINA”)

Abstract

The phenomenon of identity has been of interest to scientists for the past two decades, this concept has come into active use by representatives of completely different fields: public figures, journalists, teachers, writers, statespersons. Literature, as a component under the influence of which cultural identity is formed in particular, is an excellent source for studying the essence of general processes of identification in time. The identity of the individual may change under the influence of internal and external factors In the process of life. The works of Marko Vovchok from the standpoint of identity (cultural, national, ethnic) were studied occasionally, despite the fact that the author herself is an excellent object for studying the processes of identity formation, especially national. The purpose of this article is to find the identity of the character of the work “Kateryna”, in particular to trace the process of identification of a girl in a foreign land through the analysis of her emotions, moods, states and feelings. The author describes the painful process of finding the identity of a young girl who was taken from her homeland as a child. Due to the emphasis mainly on the affective component of the identity of the individual demonstrates its close relationship with other types of identity, including national, social, linguistic, cultural. Personal identification is not a permanent phenomenon it can change under the influence of external and internal factors at different stages of life, as we see in Kateryna. If at the beginning of the work the girl tries to preserve, and in all possible ways to defend their national identity through language, clothing, then after depression begins to hide it. The language criterion becomes one of the key in its division of society into “foreign” and “own”. The whole way of finding oneself, on’s place in society is extremely painful and destructive. The terrible destructive power of pain and sorrow is perceived by a young woman as one of the determining factors in the destruction of the individual and her physical health. Similar processes have already been depicted by the author in Ukrainian-language works (“Olesya”), when a child dies in anguish for relatives abroad.