Mythologizing of Ukrainian Drama during the Soviet Era (1920s) as a Way of Theatre Institutionalising

Abstract

The purpose of the work is to reveal the peculiarities of the Ukrainian drama mythologizing at the beginning of the Soviet era (1920s). The research methodology consists in the application of a number of methods: analytical to understand the literature on the topic of the article; interdisciplinary – to comprehensively study factual material and acquire new knowledge; systematic with the use of a range of methods (biographical, semiotic, cultural, hermeneutic, historical, and theoretical generalisation) – to comprehend the stated purpose of the research. Scientific novelty. For the first time, the interrelationship of mythologizing and the development of Ukrainian drama as a means of theatre institutionalising in the beginning of the Soviet era is systematically studied. Conclusions. The publication proves the statement: A myth in the theatrical sphere can be any message in the language of drama due to the fact that the myth itself has no substantial boundaries. This is directly related to the fact that the myth is a phenomenon embedded in the primary sign system, that is, in the natural language of the theatre. The characteristics of a myth in drama include intentionality, naturalisation, aggressiveness, formality, and historicity. Myth in the theatrical sphere has an imperative, motivating character. It imposes its own aggressive, motivatingambiguity. A theatrical myth and symbol of the Soviet government, nurtured in Ukraine in the 20s of the 20th century, enabled the creation of a unique theatrical organism that made art popular (in a positive sense). It can be argued that the striving for the ideal created by the new government, on the one hand, and its discrediting, on the other hand, became the tendencies, the collision of which created the phenomenon of the «Ukrainian Soviet theatre». In general, the logic of mythologizing theatrical life was connected with a number of key interrelationships: myth – transformation of meaning into form – replacement of language with myth.

Key words: theatre, myth, mythologizing, manipulation, ideology, Soviet regime.