SOVIET MYTHS AS A POSTCOLONIAL PROJECTION OF HISTORICAL MEMORY

Abstract

 In this article the author studies the process of decoding Soviet myths in the play "Autumn Flowers"  by О. Pohrebinska and "A Dream in a Olivier's Salad or the Tail Slave." By N. Vorozhbyt. The author focuses on rethinking of the social and political myths of that era, their devastating impact on the process of self-identification, even in today's information space. Pohrebinska in the play “Autumn flowers” unfolds the story of a woman, who is immersed in the pathological nostalgia for the Soviet times. The main character – Vilena – is fixated on the unraveling of her own mother’s death and the man, who caused it – Victor Mykolajovych – and who is her biological father and unchanging bureaucrat. In the plot of the play “A Dream in a Olivier's Salad or the Tail Slave” N. Vorozhbyt captures the colonial consciousness of an entire generation that grew up on the collapse of the totalitarian epochs through the psychological problems of the main character – Mariia (the inability to get rid of the Soviet past, which became in fact her personality). Both heroines view the Soviet past as their own individuality. The injection of collective historical memory into personal one has been traced, because Soviet slogans, mottos and behavioral patterns have become the organic part of being for those women. They made up their own personality from the typical Soviet ideological puzzles and way of life. In fact, individual memory has been replaced by collective memory. The article proved that one of the key identities of Soviet myths was "happy childhood". The artistic images of Mariyka and Vilena represent the scenarios of children's behavior, prescribed in accordance with Soviet norms. At the same time, their memories illustrate the psychological traumas of childhood caused by the ideological machine and the totalitarian system. Both women are amazed by the image of the "young Leninist", and the prerogative of a "happy childhood", no matter what. The Soviet myths are firmly anchored in the collective consciousness of the citizens of the former communist empire. Even today, they continue to produce quasi-memories about "happy childhood", "right authority" and "just order".