The Motive of Betrayal in the Literary Ballad of Borys Grinchenko and Marko Vovchok

Abstract

The proposed work examines the transformation of the literary ballad in the second half of the 19th century. It should be noted that this genre was quite popular in the literary continuum of that time, and it found its artistic realization in poetry and prose, as evidenced by the ballads of Borys Grinchenko and ballad-like stories of Marko Vovchok. The ballad genre attracted the author’s attention primarily due to its genetic affinity with folklore, artistic flexibility and narrative objectivity, etc.

Therefore, the relevance of this work is due primarily to the lack of a comprehensive analysis of the literary balads of Borys Grinchenko and Marko Vovchok, where reminiscences from folk ballads are dominant. Therefore, the subject of our research was the specifics of the implementation of the betrayal motive in the ballad works of these authors. It should be noted that the study of the problem outlined above was achieved using the method of analysis and synthesis, textological, biographical and comparative methods.

The scientific novelty of the work is that, for the first time in modern literature, an attempt has been made to study the functioning of the motive of betrayal in the content- and stylistically interconnected ballads of Borys Grinchenko (“Betrayal”, “The Easter of Mermaid” and “Night on the Lake”) and the ballad-like the story of Marko Vovchok (“Chary”), which reveals its genetic affinity with the “numinous” ballad.

Note that for the artistic structure of the literary balads of Borys Grinchenko and Marko Vovchok has in common the concentration of the main action in the climactic part, the presence of fantastic elements, the tragic unfolding of events, the dominance of an acute conflict situation.

The motive of betrayal in the literary balads of Borys Grinchenko is artistically combined with the motive of self-devotion (“Les, the Glorious Haydamaka”, “Death of Chieftain”). In particular, the “Death of Chieftain” emphasises the genetic connection of a person with his native land, and the work “Les, the Glorious Haydamaka” emphasises the problem of the Cossack’s loyalty to his ideals. The motive of devotion to one’s personal principles is depicted in the ballad-like story “Maxym Hrymach” by Marko Vovchok, where the main conflict is the divergence of social stereotypes and personal preferences of the heroine.

The study of the influence of folklore on the literary ballad of Borys Grinchenko and Marko Vovchok is promising in the further interpretation of the betrayal motive.