Modifications of Western Matrices in Mature Mashup-Prose of Ukraine

Abstract

The phenomenon of mashup-prose became one of the most controversial in the literary process of the first quarter of the XXI century and developed on the wave of fantasy expansion in the world artistic space. The aesthetic challenge and ambiguity of the message of this prose turned out to be stronger than the factor of its popularity, accordingly, the fantasy subgenre did not fall into the focus of comprehensive research either in canonical Anglo-American forms or in later versions of national implementations. In the 2020s, we are observing a decline in the popularity of this subgenre at the global level, however, in national systems, the mashup retains its position at the level of an artistic technique, which is motivated by the ideological closeness of the mashup to the corpus of modern fantasy as a whole. Against the global backdrop, the nature and dynamics of the development of mature Ukrainian mashup are of particular interest due to the uniqueness of its rethinking of original subgenre formulas in combination with a critical vision of history and a pronounced folk humorous element, with the later proposal of a new hybrid variety.

Our article first identifies, against the background of subgenre dynamics, the specifics of the mature form of mashup expression in Ukrainian literature using the example of the story by O. Dekan (and I. Nechui-Levytskyi) Kaydash Family vs Zombies. The key points here are the identification of the originality of O. Dekan’s elaboration of the model of “transformation of a classical work” and the departure from this matrix in the subgenre context, as well as the reflection in this artistic work of the fantasy paradigm updated at the beginning of the XXI century. The specificity of the construction of the proposed investigation determines the priority of the comparative research method in it, and in its genetic-contact and typological planes.

O. Dekan’s creative reinterpretation of the classic mashup-model is indicative and testifies to the uniqueness of the implementation of the Western artistic matrix in the Ukrainian mature subgenre of 2020s. The interaction in the story Kaydash Family vs Zombies of sequentially arranged plot-image blocks, where the matrix is sustained and where the classic plot of I. Nechui-Levytskyi is left behind, can be considered as a hybridization of the mature mashup-form in the transition from mashup as a subgenre technology to mashup technique. O. Dekan’s mashup strategy is organic to the world experience of the subgenre and, despite the shortcomings of the text, testifies to the writer’s original attempt to depart from the canonized scheme. Kaydash Family vs Zombies reflects the main parameters of the fantasy paradigm renewed at the beginning of the XXI century. Further comparative study of the evolution of national variants of mashup-prose is promising, as it will allow for a deeper understanding of both the logic of national receptions of the subgenre and its transformation as a whole, including inertial phenomena (in particular serial ones).