«THE WORLD OF THINGS» AND HERO’S «ENVIRONMENT» IN O. ZABUZHKO’S NOVEL «THE MUSEUM OF ABANDONED SECRETS»

Abstract

The discovery of the past times — is the leading topic of O. Zabuzhko’s novel «The Museum of Abandoned Secrets». This topic is significant one for the post-colonial countries, and in post-Soviet Ukraine Zabuzhko and her collegues try to investigate the past, which was distorted by the ruling Communist party. The novel was considered in the fields of genre and images specifics, it was also the subject of the hender studies. While this research deals with the certain mechanisms of past actualisation in the text, particularly with the help of Bakhtin’s hero’s «environment». The srtuctural analisys is used in the research. The novel is built as a collection of a museum halls, and the text can be understood as a list of exhibits and commentaries about the exibits. An exibit in Zabuzhko’s novel is a thing from the past times, and everything can be such a thing — a note in a book, a phrase, a picture. This thing was a meaningful object for people from the past, however, the novel’s heroes should guess the thing’s purpose. The past has its’ secrets, and the heroes act like children in a game: they just collect bright things. However, the thing has its secret and this sectret should be guessed, otherwise, the hero may feel himself in a danger. Solving this past’s trick, the heroes stand between the two worlds: the modern one and the past one. The modernity in Zabuzhko’s novel is the world of dead people, unlimited consuming is the only purpose for them. However, the past is alive, because it was abounded, so this past and the people from the past are looking for a justice. And this justice can be reached with the help of the secrets and with the help of the people, who are ready to seek the truth. So the truth seeking becomes a special purpose for Zabuzhko’s heroes. They should solve the secret’s riddle and connect the two worlds: the modern and the past ones.