COLLECTIVE MEMORY IN O. ZABUZHKO'S FAMILY NOVEL “MUSEUM OF ABANDONED SECRETS” AS A MEANS OF AWARENESS OF NATIONAL IDENTITY

Abstract

The article attempts to analyze O. Zabuzhko’s family novel “Museum of Abandoned Secrets” from the standpoint of “collective memory”. The tasks set by the author include: 1) to track the correlation of individual memory and to determine its impact on collective memory; 2) to establish how the collective memory acts on the awareness of the national identity (we are talking about the Ukrainian identity) of an intellectually developed personality; 3) outline the “places of memory” (in this case – photos), and find out how they through the prism of individual memory affect the subconscious of contemporaries. The author of the study is based on the ideas of M. Halbwax, P. Nora, A. Assman – researchers of the properties of memory, as well as the work of Ukrainian literary critics, who focused on the problems of collective memory in the literary text. The study shows that one of the author's messages is to focus on historical themes: Holodomor – World War II – UPA struggle with the KGB – Holocaust – the thaw and crisis of the Soviet system, their understanding and reflection in the collective memory of Ukrainians. The article notes that through the images of the main characters, Darina Goshchynska, a journalist who finds old photos and solves their secrets, and Adrian Dovgan, who is associated with the characters in the photos, the reader can feel and learn about public conflicts when the Soviet government tried to destroy the national identity of Ukrainians. It has been observed that the “places of memory” outlined in the novel (photographs) affect the subconscious of the characters and make them think about the problems of the historical past. It is concluded that due to individual memory, an intellectually developed person can “restore” collective memory and activate codes of belonging to his nation.