The late XX th and early XXI st century world literature as a factor in shaping the historical memory of future teachers

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The late XX th and early XXI st century world literature as a

factor in shaping the historical memory of future teachers

Oksana Trukhan,

Assistant Professor at English Philology Department,

Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University (Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine)

Світова література кінця XX - понатку XXI сторіччя як чинник формування історичної пам'яті майбутніх учителів

Оксана Трухан world literature teacher

асистент кафедри англійської філології,

Прикарпатський національний університет імені Василя Стефаника (м. Івано-Франківськ, Україна)

Oksana Trukhan,

Assistant Professor at English Philology Department,

Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University (Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine)

Анотація

Зазначено, що художня література в силу різних причин втрачає свою виховну роль з-поміж майбутніх учителів, а певний виховний потенціал сучасної зарубіжної літератури практично невідомий студентству. Доведено, що ефективним засобом виховання духовності, національно-патріотичних почуттів, історичної пам'яті в майбутніх учителів може стати сучасна зарубіжна література, у якій актуалізовано українську проблематику. Зацікавлення зарубіжних авторів Україною, її історичним минулим, порушення важливих проблем національної ідентичності, історичної пам'яті українців є стимулом для студентів ознайомитися із цими творами, глибоко прочитати їх. Об'єктом вивчення може стати роман “Чорнобильська молитва: хроніка майбутнього” письменниці-нобеліантки Світлани Алексієвич, що має українське коріння, а також Таїси Бондар (роман "В ім'я Отця і Сина"), Івана Шамякіна (роман "Зла зірка"), американської письменниці Айрін Забитко (“Невмите небо”), що репрезентує діаспорну літературу, роман ірландського письменника Дарра МакКеона «Все тверде розчиняється в повітрі», твір французького ілюстратора Емманюеля Лепажа "Одна весна в Чорнобилі", публіцистика американсько-англійського науковця Сергія Плохія (“Чорнобиль. Історія ядерної катастрофи”) та ін. Цих авторів тематично об'єднує аварія на Чорнобильській АЕС, яку вони зображають як катастрофу, що має світовий масштаб, як національну трагедію українців, величезну психологічну травму для людей. Письменники підкреслюють: вибух на ЧАЕС трапився не лише через нехтування правилами безпеки й проблемами з конструкцією реактора, помилки персоналу, а й великою мірою через тодішню суспільно-політичну систему, авторитарний режим. Сьогодні, як ніколи, ці проблеми актуальні, насамперед з огляду на події, які відбувалися на Чорнобильській АЕС унаслідок вторгнення туди російських військ, є велика загроза повторення цієї катастрофи. Тому художні, мистецькі та публіцистичні твори «чорнобильського дискурсу» повинні бути уважно й по-новому прочитані сучасним читачем, щоб не допустити повторення чорнобильського лиха. Ці уроки Чорнобиля не можна забувати й у жодному випадку не допустити до таких подій сьогодні. Така проблематика чи не найбільше здатна формувати національну пам'ять юнацтва, формувати національну свідомість та високі духовні цінності.

Ключові слова: сучасна зарубіжна література, майбутні вчителі, історична пам'ять, виховання, чорнобильська тема, письменники.

Abstract

It is noted that fiction for various reasons loses its educational role among future teachers, and a certain educational potential of modern world literature is virtually unfamiliar to students. It has been proved that modern foreign literature, which actualizes Ukrainian issues, can become an effective means of educating spirituality, national-patriotic feelings and historical memory in future teachers. The interest of foreign authors in Ukraine, its historical past, raising of important issues of national identity, historical memory of Ukrainians is a stimulus for students to get acquainted with these literary works and to read them deeply. The object of study may be the novel "Chornobyl Prayer: A Chronicle of the Future" by the Nobel Prize-winning writer Svetlana Alexievich , as well as Taisa Bondar (the novel "In the Name of the Father and the Son"), Ivan Shamyakin (the novel "The Evil Star") , the American writer Irene Zabytko ("The Sky Unwashed"), representing diaspora literature, the novel by the Irish writer Darragh McKeon "All That is Solid Melts into Air", the literary work of the French illustrator Emmanuel Lepage "Springtime in Chernobyl", journalism of the American-English scholar Serhii Plokhy ("Chernobyl: The History of a Nuclear Catastrophe”) and others. These authors are thematically united by the Chernobyl accident, which they portray as a global catastrophe, as a national tragedy of Ukrainians, a huge psychological trauma for people. The writers emphasize that the Chernobyl explosion happened not only due to neglect of safety rules, problems with the construction of the reactor or staff errors, but also largely due to the socio-political system and the authoritarian regime of those times. Today, more than ever, these problems are urgent, especially taking into consideration the events that took place at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant as a result of the invasion of Russian troops. Unfortunately, there is a great threat of a repeat of this catastrophe. Therefore, the artistic and journalistic works of the “Chernobyl discourse” must be read carefully and in a new way, in order to prevent a recurrence of the Chernobyl disaster. The lessons of Chernobyl must not be forgotten and should never be allowed to happen today. Such issues are perhaps the most capable of shaping the national memory of youth, national consciousness and high spiritual values.

Keywords: modern world literature, future teachers, historical memory, education, Chernobyl discourse, writers.

Introduction

The problem formulation. With the beginning of the era of digitalization, intensive development of informatization of society, students' interest in reading fiction has sharply decreased. Ii has affected the appropriate level of existing linguistic and literary competencies of future professionals in the field of education. We consider reading culture not only as an integral part of the professional profile of the future teacher, but also as a factor in the development of his spiritual world. The book in any form (traditional or electronic) remains a source of culture and has an educational function. Today, educators need to look for new methods and forms of actualization of reading by children and youth, as the decline of literary development of the individual may be one of the factors of humanitarian catastrophe, the signs of which are already quite clear. These realities should be alarming; teachers should accept them as those that seriously correct the established pedagogical ideas. In addition, common mistakes in educational practice are that there are still widespread conversations about the love of reading and books, calls to read fiction instead of organizing systematic reading activities of students, including their acquaintance with a wide and diverse range of modern books, promotion of reading in the process of extracurricular work. Finally, the creation of a rich reading environment within the institution of higher education, where everyone: both teachers and students read books and actively promote them, where the need for books is constant. It is now scientifically proven that the first guarantor of the love of reading is the knowledge of a wide range of books, including pedagogical content (Bilavych, & Rozman, 2016).

In our opinion, the leading role can be played by modern popular works by foreign authors, dedicated to Ukraine. They are characterized by thematic and genre diversity, pedagogical relevance (reflection of important socio-political, socio-economic, cultural, educational or historical events, human relations, relations of parents and children, images of antisocial phenomena, the formation of the inner world of the individual, the formation of spiritual, moral and Christian qualities, education of patriotism, national consciousness, historical memory, etc.), deep folk wisdom and morality, great artistic and aesthetic value, artistic excellence and more. Thus, such works can be called artistic textbooks on pedagogy, where there is everything: a deep meaning, described methods and means of education, including folk pedagogy, and so on.

One of the effective means of forming the spiritual world of students can be modern world literature, which actualizes Ukrainian issues. We are convinced that the interest of foreign authors in our state, its historical past, raising of important issues of national identity, historical memory of Ukrainians is a stimulus for students to get acquainted with these works, to read them deeply. Under such conditions, fiction becomes a factor that can expand students' knowledge of Ukraine, its past, cultivate a sense of patriotism, national dignity, and, finally, expand readers' horizon, form the literary competence of future teachers and more. Under such conditions, fiction becomes the initial stage that will encourage students to further deeper knowledge of literature as an art form.

Analysis of recent research and publications. Despite the fact that scholars (Belarusian writers, 1994; Bilavych, & Rozman, 2016; Chambers, & Gregory, 2006; Collie, & Slater, 2001) are actively studying the impact of fiction on personality development, the formation of literary competence of future professionals, improving literary education. However, researchers did not study the scientific problem raised in the title of the article separately.

The Aim And Research Tasks

The purpose of the article - to analyze the educational potential of literary works of modern world literature as a factor in the formation of spiritual values and historical memory in future teachers.

REsEARCH METHODs

Using empirical methods (questionnaires, interviews, observations), we studied the position of fiction in the system of student inquiries, its role in the spiritual development of the individual, as well as future teachers' knowledge of modern foreign fiction and reflecting of modern pedagogical problems in it. General scientific methods (analysis, synthesis, generalization), as well as comparative analysis, the method of historical retrospective made it possible to study the problem of reflecting historical events in Ukraine in the late twentieth century in modern world literature and to highlight the educational problems that are raised by writers in their literary works, including historical memory, national self-identification, human dignity, patriotism, high moral values, the cult of motherhood, spirituality, etc.

Results of the research

A number of conclusions are made after conducting a study in 2021 at Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University. The research had the task to analyze the place and role of fiction in the system of student inquiries and spiritual development of personality, as well as to determine the knowledge of future teachers about modern foreign fiction with reflection of modern pedagogical problems in it. Thus, answering the question "How do you spend your free time?", only 57% of students said they were willing to read fiction. On the one hand, all respondents believe that fiction has "great educational value", and fully agree that the book is a means of education, on the other hand, most of them (70%) could not give examples of modern works of art, which raised the issues of education. Students are also unfamiliar with modern foreign writers who write about Ukraine. Therefore, fiction for various reasons loses its educational role among future teachers, and a certain educational potential of modern world literature is virtually unknown to students.

In view of this, it is necessary to acquaint future teachers with some literary works of modern world literature, in which the Ukrainian issue is actualized. For example, the object of study may be the work of the Belarusian Nobel laureate

Svetlana Aleksievich (the novel "Chernobyl Prayer: A Chronicle of the Future") (Alexievich, 1998). The writer has Ukrainian roots ( born in 1948 in Stanislav (now Ivano-Frankivsk) ) in a family of teachers: her Belarusian father taught history and a Ukrainian mother - German (Everything you need to know about Svetlana Alexievich)), the American writer Irene Zabytko (the novel "The Sky Unwashed") (Zabytko, 2000), representing diaspora literature, the graphic novel by the French illustrator Emmanuel Lepage "Springtime in Chernobyl" (Lepazh, 2020)), the American-English scholar Serhii Plokhy ( journalistic work "Chernobyl: The History of a Nuclear Catastrophe”) (Plokhy, 2019)) and other authors. In this regard, it is appropriate to focus students' attention on these and other writers in the course of studying world literature.

It is important to convey the information that foreign writers of the twentieth century often paid their attention to Ukraine. An important place in the world literary process is occupied by Ukrainian writers of the diaspora, who, as a result of long residence abroad, were bilingual and wrote literary works not only in Ukrainian but also in the language of the country of residence. For example, Roman Baboval, who wrote in Ukrainian and French, Yuriy Tarnawsky (officially George Orest Tarnawsky), who wrote in English. The children of Ukrainian emigrants often integrated into the new society and adopted the language of their new homeland, some of which gained considerable recognition. These are, for example, the writers Andreas Okopenko and George Shcherbanenko (Giorgio Scerbanenko). Ukrainian themes are present in the works of Askold Melnychuk, Oleksandr Motyl and Janice Kulyk Keefer, who write in English. Maryna Levytska's English- language satirical novel “A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian”, dedicated to the lives of Ukrainian emigrants, has gained international recognition and has been translated into many languages, including Ukrainian. In 2013 a German-speaking writer from Kyiv Katya Petrovska won the Ingeborg Bachmann Prize for the novel "Maybe Esther". Thanks to their good command of other languages, the Ukrainians of diaspora also translated Ukrainian literary works and popularized them abroad. The translators were: Vira Vovk (she translated from Portuguese into Ukrainian), Marco Carynnyk into English, Constantin-Henry Andrusyshen into German, and others. (Emigration literature, 2007). The new generation of Englishspeaking writers from the Ukrainian diaspora in Canada and the United States is represented by Askold Melnychuk and Irene Zabytko. The Ukrainian motives are used by such American writers as Jonathan Safran Foer (“Everything is illuminated”) and by Claire Messud (“A Simple Tale”). The information about these writers, acquaintance with their works - is an important means of enriching modern students with such qualities as patriotism and national pride.

Despite the fact that Irene Zabytko represents modern US literature, and Svitlana Alexievich - Belarusian literature, the works of these writers have much in common. First of all, they are thematically united by the Chernobyl theme: it is a novel by S. Alexievich "Chornobyl Prayer: A Chronicle of the Future" (Alexievich, 1998) and the work "The Sky Unwashed" by I. Zabytko (Zabytko, 2000), which was included in the New York Times bestseller lists (Irene Zabytko: There are many biographies of Hohol), is written in English and not yet translated in Ukraine, the book has become a notable event in English literature. Both novels are important in terms of the issues raised and the functions they perform in the development of the world community: humanity must know about the Chernobyl disaster, remember it to prevent this; humanity must take care of spirituality, the absolute values on which human civilization is based. We consider these books to be of a strong spiritual and educational value. Here are some arguments (this is discussed in more detail in our publication (Trukhan, 2012)).

First of all, it should be noted that the “Chernobyl discourse” is well developed in Belarusian literature (Belarusian writers, 1994). The backbone of such literature is represented by well-known names: Taisa Bondar's novel "In the Name of the Father and the Son" (Bondar, 2000), which depicts the last days of life of an elderly woman Paraskeva, living alone in a village in the exclusion zone, Ivan Shamyakin's novel "The Evil Star " (Shamyakin, 1993), where the stories of human destinies related to the war in Afghanistan and the Chernobyl accident are intertwined. The characters are victims of the war and the accident that arose from the sins of their parents. In our opinion, this problem is most deeply reflected in the work of S. Alexievich "Chernobyl Prayer: A Chronicle of the Future", written in 1997. According to the author, “this is not a book about Chernobyl, but about the world of Chernobyl: reconstruction of feelings, not events” (Alexievich, 1998, p. 24) . The text of the work consists of stories of people ("voices"), who witnessed the explosion of the fourth reactor at the NPP, participants of the rescue operation, the consequences of the explosion and those who lived in Prypiat. This chorus of "voices", which is the cry of the human soul, recreates a large-scale tragic picture of the event itself, and its impact on the future of people, especially the fate of the mother. She appears in the literary work as a woman - rescuer : a mother who snatches a hopelessly ill child from the web of death, a wife who selflessly fights for the survival of her husband - liquidator, a nurse whose desperation overcomes the fear of being hit by incompatible doses of radiation, etc. (Trukhan, 2012). The novel "The Sky Unwashed" by A. Zabytko highlights this issue by portraying female characters in traditional areas: family and home life, love, maternal love, the search for harmony in relationships, high marital feelings, etc. (Trukhan, 2012). Unrestrained desire for motherhood is a characteristic of the women interviewed by S. Alexievich. They ignore the warnings of doctors and still dare to give birth, are fighting for the opportunity to live in seemingly utopian circumstances. The theme of boundless maternal love sounds especially powerful in both works. In Irene Zabytko's novel "The Sky Unwashed" Maria Petrenko's suffering near the deathbed of her son Yurko is likened to the mental anguish of Saint Mary, walking through Golgotha with her Son.

Students should also pay attention to the archetype of the house, which is presented in the novels, as an important means of educating love for the native land, the formation of historical memory. In Irene Zabytko's novel the return of five women to their native village of Opachychi, which is now in the "exclusion zone", is symbolic. Self-settled women, not finding themselves in Kyiv, adjust their way of life on their own - cultivate the land, overcome bureaucratic obstacles, serve the liturgy, cure each other's diseases, bury one another. The theme of self-settlers is also present in the work "Chernobyl Prayer: A Chronicle of the Future" by S. Alexievich. In depicting women who are full of inner suffering, the authors focus on rethinking many philosophical questions: the meaning of human existence, death, reappraisal of eternal and temporal values, the heroines argue on social issues, revealing an active social position.

In the course of studying foreign literature by future teachers, we emphasize: the novel "Chernobyl Prayer" by S. Alexievich became so famous and popular in the world literary process that a number of authors, representatives of the “Chernobyl discourse” actively use numerous quotes from the book of the Belarusian author, build their stories on the testimonies of her heroes and depict the temper of their characters. It helps them to depict realistic atmosphere of Soviet era. These include the Irish writer Darragh McKeon “All That Is Solid Melts into Air” (McKeon, 2014), a graphic novel (comic book) by French artist Emmanuel Lepage "Springtime in Chernobyl" (Lepage, 2020).

In order to better understand the issues raised in the works that were taken for analysis, it is worth introducing the book "Chernobyl. The History of the Nuclear Catastrophe” by renowned scientist Serhii Plokhy (Plokhy 2019) to the students. This literary work is the first journalistic chronicle of the history of the Chernobyl disaster from the explosion on April 26, 1986 to the closure of Chernobyl in December 2000. The book does not belong to fiction, but we mention this book because the author, a well-known American and English scientist, a director of the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute, talks in detail about the versions that caused one of the greatest man-made disasters in human history and in the history of nuclear energy, highlighting some little-known facts. The research will continue to be the subject not only of scientific but also of literary and artistic understanding. Serhii Plokhy claims that Chernobyl is not only a global catastrophe, it is first of all a national tragedy of Ukrainians, a huge psychological trauma for people, a heavy burden for the Ukrainian economy. The explosion at the nuclear power plant happened not only due to neglect of safety rules and problems with the construction of the reactor, staff errors, but also largely due to the socio-political system, authoritarian regime, which shielded nuclear energy with a veil of secrecy. Therefore, these problems are urgent, especially taking into consideration the events that took place at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant as a result of the invasion of Russian troops. Thus, the artistic and journalistic works of the “Chernobyl discourse” must be carefully and deeply read and analyzed to prevent a recurrence of the Chernobyl disaster. These lessons of Chernobyl must not be forgotten and should never be allowed to happen today.

Conclusions and prospects of further research

Modern world literature, which actualizes Ukrainian issues, can become an effective means of educating spirituality, national-patriotic feelings, and historical memory of future teachers. The interest of foreign authors in Ukraine, its historical past, raising of important problems of national identity, historical memory of Ukrainians is an incentive for students to get acquainted with these works, to read them deeply. The object of study may be the literary work of the Belarusian Nobel Prize-winning writer Svetlana Alexievich, who has Ukrainian roots (a novel "Chernobyl Prayer: A Chronicle of the Future"), an American writer Irene Zabytko ("The Sky Unwashed"), representing diaspora literature, a novel by the Irish writer Darragh McKeon “All That Is Solid Melts into Air”, a graphic novel (comic book) by French artist Emmanuel Lepage "Springtime in Chernobyl", the journalism of an American-English scientist Serhii Plokhy ( “Chernobyl. The History of the Nuclear Catastrophe”) and others. These authors are thematically united by the Chernobyl accident, which they portray as a global catastrophe, as a national tragedy of Ukrainians, a huge psychological trauma for people. The artistic and journalistic works of the Chernobyl discourse must be carefully read by young people to prevent a recurrence of the Chernobyl disaster. Such issues are perhaps the most capable of shaping the national memory of students.

The formation of readers' interests of future teachers by means of modern literature needs further research.

References

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Belarusian writers: 1917-1990. (1994). Contributed by. A. Gorditsky. Mn .: Fiction.

Bilavych, G., & Rozman, І. (2016). Modern fiction as factor of students' reading culture development. Advanced education, 6, 101-105.

Bondar, T (2000). In the name of the Father and the Son: a story, a novel [art. RM Joint]. Minsk: Fiction.

Chambers, E., & Gregory M. (2006). Teaching and Learning English Literature; Teaching and Learning the Humanities in Higher Education. U.K. SAGE Publishers., J. Collie & S. Slater.

Collie, J., & Slater, S. (2001). Literature in the Language Classroom. A Resource Book of Ideas and Activities. Cambridge University Press. Everything you need to know about Svetlana Alexievich. URL:

https://web.archive.org/web/20160914070936/http://vysnovky.com/life/we/2330-vse-shcho-vi-

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Lepazh, E. (2020). Springtime in Chernobyl. Kyiv.

McKeon, D. (2014). All That Is Solid Melts into Air. Kyiv.

Plokhy, S. (2019). Chernobyl. The History of the nuclear catastrophe. Kharkiv: Folio.

Trukhan, O. I. (2012). Anthropological component of catastrophic discourse in S. Alexievich's "novel-testimony" "Chernobyl: Chronicle of the Future" and Irene Zabytko's novel "The Sky Unwashed". Scientific notes of the National University "Ostroh Academy". Ser. Philological, 27, 288-291. Shamyakin, I. (1993). The Evil Star. Minsk: Fiction.

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