PARATEXTUALITY OF M. PRODANOVYCH`S NOVEL “COLLECTION”: AUTHOR`S CONCEPT, HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL CONTEXT
Authors:   Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Bilyk Nataliia L. 
Published: July 2022

At the present stage of comparative research, a solid theoretical and methodological basis for the phenomenon of intertextual relations has been developed, which allows for a differentiated approach and maximum response to the diversity of intertextual phenomena. Special attention is paid to various forms and genres of intertextual relations, and in particular paratextuality. According to its definitive qualities, it is obviously prone to heterogeneous figurative combinations and modifications, in particular, with discourses for which the primary definitive criterion is semiotic-sign morphology. The modifications made possible by this format, of course, are relevant in highlighting the diverse experience of literary poetics. From the perspective of this combinatorial tendency, the work of Mileta Prodanovich ‒ a contemporary Serbian artist, art critic, writer, winner of national and international awards in the field of literature, attracts more and more research attention. One of the iconic works of the artist is the novel “Collection”. The work is a response to current events in the field of culture ‒ both its modern conceptualization and special phenomena that shape today`s national and world cultural paradigm. In the scientific discourse a significant experience of understanding the poetics of Serbian great prose has been formed, as evidenced by published during the 20th and early 21st century works of domestic and foreign scientists. Accordingly, the expression in the work of M. Prodanovich “Collection” of the modification of paratextuality, realized in interaction with other manifestations of intertextuality, is relevant. The aim of this article is to focus on the figurative content of the paratextual component of the work in relation to poetics in accordance with other strategies of comparative studies, to determine the priorities of formal, semantic and contextual dimensions, the historical and cultural fate of the reality. The research is based on the productivity of comparative-historical and genetic-typological methods in combination with structural analysis and cultural-semiotic approach. The figurative content of the paratextual components of M. Prodanovich`s novel “Collection”, realized in the format of the title and a number of epigraphs, testifies to the existing threshold function, diversified by the original author’s improvisation. In its formal implementation it is necessary to distinguish a kind of complementary combination with figurative solutions that meet the definitive requirements of intertextuality, in particular allusions, as well as ekphrasis. The figurative actualization of the phenomenon of the ancient silverware collection Sevso plays a decisive role in the pronounced configuration. There are two supplementary lines in the system of complementary combination at the level of meaningmaking. The historical and cultural dimension of the reality, whose allusive and referential power proved to be decisive for the poetics of the novel, reveals in the work semantic reflexes related to such a prospective line as the humanization of the aesthetic. At the same time, the allusive actualization of the real context of this reality highlights a powerful semantic and meaningful plan. It should highlight the situation in which, because of unworthy violations of civilizational conventions derived from ethical norms, beautiful works of art, as the top embodiment of beauty, full of good inspiration, can’t fulfill its noble mission, provided by the essence of art: to bring good and joy to people. In the general sense-making, the trajectory of the postulation of the idea of the aspiration of humanity is announced by the semantic projection from the paratextual position in the figurative world of the “Collection”. Thus, in accordance with the contextual prospectus and the author`s concept, a set of priorities essential for the meaning of the novel is consolidated. They define the contours of the need for responsiveness and justice, and it turns out that the desire for good and humanity is potentiated.