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DOI: https://doi.org/10.34069/AI/2024.75.03.27
How to Cite:
Chernenko, O., Malenko, O., Holoborodko, K., Bozhko, Y., & Shaposhnikova, O. (2024). Christian Concepts in the Works by the
Ukrainian Poet Viktor Boiko. Amazonia Investiga, 13(75), 322-330. https://doi.org/10.34069/AI/2024.75.03.27
Christian Concepts in the Works by the Ukrainian Poet Viktor Boiko
Християнські концепти у творчості українського поета Віктора Бойка
Received: January 31, 2024 Accepted: March 15, 2024
Written by:
Olha Chernenko1
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7241-5879
Olena Malenko2
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4753-0036
Kostiantyn Holoborodko3
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6004-4003
Yuliia Bozhko4
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7235-0670
Olena Shaposhnikova5
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0926-2280
Abstract
The article aims to analyse the quantitative and
qualitative aspects of the implementation of
elements of Christian concepts “God” and “Soul”
in the language of poetry by Viktor Boiko –
Ukrainian artist of the late twentieth – early
twenty-first century. A comprehensive
qualitative analysis is employed to study the
peculiarities of verbalization of numerous
semantic planes of the mentioned concepts in the
works by Viktor Boiko. It has been found that in
the Ukrainian language space elements of the
Christian conceptsphere are realised in biblical,
folklore and linguistic interpretation, in semiotic
and verbal planes, in synchronic and diachronic
aspects and are accordingly reflected in the
language of Ukrainian writers.
It has been concluded that the elements of the
concepts of “God” and “Soul” are a part of the
linguistic picture of the world of any ethnic
group, which manifests the language of poets
1
Doctor of Philosophy, Associate Professor of the Department of Intercultural Communication and Foreign Language of the National
Technical University of NTU “KhPI”, Kharkiv, Ukraine. WoS Researcher ID: KHC-4383-2024
2
Head of the Department of Ukrainian Studies and Linguistics, Doctor of Science in Philology, Full Professor, H.S. Skovoroda
Kharkiv National Pedagogical University, Ukraine. WoS Researcher ID: GSN-6373-2022
3
Dean of H.F. Kvitka-Osnovianenko Ukrainian Language and Literature Faculty, Department of the Ukrainian Language, Doctor of
Science in Philology, Full Professor, H.S. Skovoroda Kharkiv National Pedagogical University, Ukraine. WoS Researcher ID:
GSN-9449-2022
4
Ph.D. in Philology, Associate Professor, Department of Theory and Practice of the English Language, H.S. Skovoroda Kharkiv
National Pedagogical University, Ukraine. WoS Researcher ID: AAN-7545-2020
5
Senior Lecturer, Department of Intercultural Communication and Foreign Language, National Technical University NTU “KhPI”,
Kharkiv, Ukraine. WoS Researcher ID: ID KLE-1681-2024.
Chernenko, O., Malenko, O., Holoborodko, K., Bozhko, Y., Shaposhnikova, O. / Volume 13 - Issue 75: 322-330 / March, 2024
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who show their attitude to a higher power as a
protector and interlocutor. That is why Viktor
Boiko, as a Ukrainian poet, syncretically
combining patriotism and lyrics, politics and
everyday motives, satire and good humour in his
works, looking for certain trends in the universe,
turns to Christian concepts within the framework
of “quiet poetry”.
Keywords: concept “God”, concept “Soul”,
Viktor Boiko, poetry, linguistic picture of the
world.
Introduction
The moral state of the individual plays an
important role in its socialization in society. No
matter what country in the world, it is obvious
that religion affects the lives of millions of
people. Accordingly, vocabulary and especially
phraseology, which use units to denote higher
powers and other sacred concepts and symbols,
characterize ethnic groups as peaceful and
democratic.
These aspects in the context of the study of
literary art began to play a significant role in the
late twentieth century, when the research of
linguists became anthropocentrically oriented,
and within this orientation as a field of research
is linguoconceptology. This person is, for
example, a poet (writer), who thus combines
concepts – elements of the ethnic linguistic
picture of the world – in his own author’s
conceptosphere. One of the most commonly used
concepts in fiction is “God” and “Soul“, which
are widely used in terms of semantic planes,
which combine many core and peripheral
elements. Thus, since in almost all religions God
is the creator of the universe, the meaning of “the
giver” can be considered the most relevant,
although the semantics of “ruler” also positions
such uniqueness and absoluteness
(corresponding to the artistic and semantic
content “God is the creator”). Note that this is a
pre-Christian era. For example, the ancient
Indian religion proclaimed the absolute
beginning of Brahman, from which the whole
world originates; the cosmogonic myths of
Ancient Greece derive the existence of life from
Chaos, Cronus and Gaia; adherents of Hinduism
are convinced that the world arose from the
sacrifice of Purusha or from the breath of the god
Vishnu; in Christianity, there is an understanding
that God created everything from nothing; in
Islam it is stated that the world was created by
Allah. Thus, almost all the world's religions
speak of the divine beginning of the universe.
Closely related to the previous interpretation is
the understanding of God as a father, because he,
as the creator, is the father of all things.
As the problem of development (revival,
formation, assimilation, affirmation) of spiritual
values is extremely relevant today – important
mental structures in human consciousness that
are directly related to morals and worldview,
verbal expression of Christian concepts in
Ukrainian literature, including poetry, becomes
crucial in the face of fierce confrontation with the
imperial forces that are trying to destroy Ukraine
as an independent unitary state with its own
national culture and language.
In such a socio-political context, poetry should
be part of a complex that must defend both the
spiritual values of the leading ethnic group and
the state independence itself, and the poet is a
brave and patriotic warrior. Such is the Kharkiv
author Viktor Boiko, whose works correlate the
signs of culture with the lexical-semantic system
that can integrate society, unite people as a
nation, and give a proper response to the
challenges facing Ukraine and humanity.
Literature review
Several scientists and researchers have explored
Christian concepts such as “God” and “Soul”
from various perspectives, including psychology,
neuroscience, and philosophy. A neuroscientist
and professor of integrative medicine, Newberg
has conducted extensive research on the neural
correlates of religious and spiritual experiences.
His work includes studies on the brain's response
to prayer, meditation, and religious rituals
(Newberg & Newberg, 2014).
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A philosopher of religion, Swinburne has written
extensively on the existence and nature of God.
His work includes arguments for the existence of
God based on the cosmological, teleological, and
moral dimensions of the universe (Swinburne,
2004).
Alvin Plantinga a philosopher known for his
work in epistemology and the philosophy of
religion, has written extensively on the
rationality of belief in God. His work includes the
development of the “Reformed epistemology”
and the “Evolutionary argument against
naturalism” (Plantinga, 2003).
William Lane Craig, a philosopher and
theologian, has written extensively on the
philosophical arguments for the existence of
God, including the Kalam cosmological
argument and the moral argument (Craig, 2008).
John Polkinghorne, a physicist and theologian,
has written extensively on the relationship
between science and religion. His work includes
explorations of the nature of God, the soul, and
the afterlife from a scientific and theological
perspective (Polkinghorne, 2009).
Francis Collins, a geneticist and former director
of the National Institutes of Health, has written
on the compatibility of science and faith. His
work includes explorations of the scientific
evidence for God and the implications of genetics
for the concept of the soul (Collins, 2006).
Robert J. Russell, both a physicist and
theologian, has delved deeply into the
intersection of science and religion. His writings
encompass inquiries into the essence of God, the
soul, and the afterlife, approached through both
scientific and theological lenses (Russell, 2008).
Keith Ward, a philosopher and theologian, has
written extensively on the relationship between
science and religion. His work includes
explorations of the nature of God, the soul, and
the afterlife from a scientific and theological
perspective (Ward, 1996).
Nancey Murphy, a philosopher and theologian,
has extensively explored the dynamic between
science and religion in her writings. Her body of
work delves into inquiries regarding the essence
of God, the soul, and the afterlife, examining
them through both scientific and theological
viewpoints (Murphy, (s.f)).
John Hick, a philosopher of religion, has written
extensively on the nature of God and the soul
from a religious pluralist perspective. His work
includes explorations of the concept of God in
different religious traditions and the implications
of religious diversity for the concept of the soul
(Hick, (s.f))
John Locke, in his “Two Treatises on
Government”, acknowledges the importance of
religious beliefs and concepts like “God” and
the” Soul” in shaping individuals' worldview.
Locke acknowledges the existence of God and
considers belief in God to be foundational for a
person. Locke discusses the concept of personal
identity and consciousness, which are relevant to
the understanding of the self or soul (Locke,
2020).
In Bernard Werber’s works, particularly in the
“Les Fourmis” trilogy, “L’Empire des Anges”,
and “Nous les Dieux” trilogy, he often explores
philosophical and metaphysical themes,
including the concepts of “God” and “Soul”.
Through the narrative, Werber presents various
perspectives on these concepts, offering readers
opportunities to contemplate questions about the
nature of existence, the meaning of life, and the
role of higher powers or divine beings.
The social and historical aspects intersect with
religious themes, the culturological and political
planes of the general information complex are
correlated in Bernard Werber’s works
(Demchenko et al., 2021).
Olha Chernenko highlighted the concept of
Viktor Boiko’s linguistic worldview as a
component of the poet’s thinking, identified the
most significant events in the author’s life and
work, emphasized the artistic comprehension of
spirituality, drew parallels between the linguistic
and philosophical worldviews, analysed the
connections between cultural and spiritual
values, and highlighted the specifics of the poetic
speech of the master of the artistic word, the
peculiarities of his worldview, and the individual
manner of constructing a poetic work
(Chernenko, 2017a; Chernenko, 2017b;
Chernenko, 2022).
Methodology
The methodology employed in this study
encompasses a comprehensive qualitative
analysis of literary works, with a particular
emphasis on the intricate incorporation of
Christian concepts, such as “God” and “Soul,”
within the rich tapestry of Ukrainian literature.
This analysis has been meticulously conducted
within the expansive framework of
linguoconceptology, a dynamic field of scholarly
inquiry that delves into the intricate interplay
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between language and culture, shedding light on
how linguistic expressions encapsulate and
convey cultural beliefs and values. To ensure
rigor and depth in the examination process, both
deduction and induction, recognized as
fundamental scientific methods, have been
judiciously applied. These methods serve as
robust analytical tools, enabling the exploration
and interpretation of the nuanced manifestations
of Christian concepts within the literary
landscape of Ukraine, offering valuable insights
into the broader cultural, social, and
philosophical dimensions embedded within these
literary creations.
Results and discussion
One of the defining features of the modern
Ukrainian mentality is the return to culture and
language of realities that are closely linked to the
religious life of society (Chernenko, 2020,
p. 120). The spiritual life of man is inconceivable
without the concept of “God” (Levchenko et al.,
2021, p. 107). According to Kostiantyn
Holoborodko, in the linguistic space of Ukrainian
literature almost every writer addresses the
image of God or considers the problem of
seeking God (Holoborodko, 2017).
That is why the authors of fiction take on the
function not only to address God personally, but
also to determine his essence and role in human
life. The poetic work by Viktor Boiko, a
Ukrainian poet of the second half of the twentieth
century, is not an exception.
This author from Slobozhanshchyna is known as
a literary and public figure, poet, translator,
activist of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation,
Kharkiv Literary Museum, a member of the
National Union of Writers of Ukraine. His style
is characterized by a certain syncretism,
combining political and domestic themes, urban
and rural, satire and poetry (for example, the
possibility of a syncretic combination of elegiac
and panegyric elements noted by researchers
(Lastovets et al, 2021). Thus, the title of the poem
“Jerusalem and the Nightingales” combines
incompatible concepts, each of which requires a
detailed description, and its elements do not
show noticeable connections with the elements
of the other.
Like most Ukrainian poets, Viktor Boiko,
according to A. Tretiachenko, focuses on the
search for ethnic “origins”, “roots”, “traditions”,
obeys the motives of patriotism – love for his
native land, describes native landscapes, shows
skill as an intimate lyricist (Tretiachenko, 2013),
he is part of a cohort of authors of “quiet poetry”
(“quiet lyrics”). The features of “quiet poetry”
are meditative (according to the interpretation of
the author's team of scientists – the search for
“another kingdom” (Dudareva, 2022), elegiac,
deep psychologism, i.e. not actually patriotic
rhetoric, certain spectacular declarations, and in
simple form hidden deep meaning, analysis of
historical retrospective and proposal perspective.
In Viktor Boiko’s poetic language, the reader
notes not slangs, colloquial forms, exclamatory
and interrogative modulations, but emotionally
rich expressive elements that help to transform
ordinary typical situations and universal virtues
into aesthetic examples of life positivity.
This complex logically includes the system of
spiritual values of the Ukrainian people, among
which are traditionally defined and certain
concepts implemented in the ethnic language of
the world – “village”, “steppe”, “river”, “house”,
“mother” and others. Under certain conditions
they acquire the status of conceptospheres,
expanding their semantic and linguistic content.
Such a unit is the concept of “God”, which is
traditionally verbalized by the units “God”,
“Christ”, “Lord”, “Jesus”, “Son of God”,
“Savior”. In addition to them, Viktor Boiko also
has theonyms for Slavic pagan gods – “Volos”,
“Berehynia”, “Stryboh”, which is not surprising,
since Ukrainians have the so-called two-faiths.
The poet actualises the concept of “God” in the
artistic and semantic content of “supernatural
being” through the semantic planes “God –
love”, “God – truth”, “God – justice”, “God –
help”, “God – forgiveness”, “God – atheism” and
others, among which the demonstrators of human
spiritual and moral virtues dominate –
“goodness”, “sincerity”, “mercy”, “honesty” and
so on. In this case, the awareness of God as the
creator of all things is explained through the
nucleus unit “father” (in the semantic context of
“God the Father”). The poet also actualises the
peripheral semantic fillings “God is ecology”,
“God is the historical past” and even “God is the
player”.
In the poetry by Victor Boiko there are
microcontexts, which reveal the usual meanings
of the semantic plane “God is a supernatural
being”, within which several artistic and
semantic contents are distinguished. This is, in
particular, “God – prayer”, because this is the
way a person turns to God (the poet) through the
traditional phrases “pray to God”, “stay to pray
to God”, “pray as God”. As we can see, in this
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context, the verbs “pray” and “beg” are
synonymous, and to this can be added the
traditional “thank you (God)”.
Thus, in modelling the semantic plane “God is a
supernatural being” and its artistic and semantic
content, the poet mostly uses the expression of
predicative phrases in which verbs are combined
with nouns, specifying the actions performed by
a higher power, thus expanding the positive
semantic connotation. Through such
constructions, there is an objectification of
conceptual meanings that characterize God as the
subject of treatment, when the lyrical hero
manifests the position of the bearer of predicative
features.
In the semantic plane “God – forgiveness” the
author uses traditional folk stamps, which have
the character of order: “Lord, forgive”, “Forgive
me, God”, “May God forgive” and manifest the
eternal faith of man in a higher power, that he can
forgive. That is why God is characterized by the
signs of “merciful”, “long- suffering”, “just”,
“forgiving”.
In the semantic plane “God is help”, the analysed
concept also reveals traditional language forms:
“God helps us”, “let him take us out of trouble”
and, finally, “We are all atheists for a while, /
when we do not need help”. Here, Victor Boiko
utters a biblical reminiscence that all people
consider themselves independent, self-sufficient
as long as they do not experience insurmountable
difficulties, and thus necessarily remember God.
In the semantic plane “God is love” in the
axiological dimension there are also various
contexts: “they dream that only the Lord loves
them”, “Happiness is in our hearts, and that is in
love. Because out of love the virgin gave birth to
a son”.
And if “in the Old Testament love is the driving
force of God's actions, but only in the New
Testament the love of the Father for the Son
through sacrifice brings salvation to man and
gives him new life” (Matskiv, 2012). That is, it
was out of love for humanity that the Son of God,
Jesus Christ, came into the world of men, where
he died a martyr's death. Accordingly, negative
sentiments evoke the expression, conversely
connoted, “God has fallen out of love with us”.
In the semantic plane “God is mercy” it turns out
that people have always sought to believe that a
higher power will help, promote and love them
(often through explication in the image of a
guardian angel). There is a maxim in the human
mind that God embodies mercy, and such a
linguo-visual vision is presented in Victor
Boiko’s poetic idiosyncrasy by means of
appropriate features marked with the adjective
“merciful”, noun “mercy”, for example, “God
will be merciful”; “God's mercy”. At the same
time, the poet personifies the world, addressing it
and using allusions to history in the Old
Testament of the Flood, where the rainbow is
perceived as God's promise never to arrange a
global flood again.
In the semantic plane “God is truth, justice” a
higher power is associated in the human mind
with absolute truth and justice, because in order
to find truth / truth, the sages sent man to God
(“to Christ would go”. That is, God is the
personification of truth, although the author
argues that there is no need to seek justice in this
world, because no one has the address of Christ.
In the semantic plane “God is the Father” the
lexical and semantic manifestos “Children of
God”, “Heavenly Father”, “Child of God”, which
presuppose parental care, have already been
revealed.
Among the units of the core zone of artistic and
semantic content of the concept of “God”, we
have chosen the most ambiguous and profound in
terms of semantic analysis and associativity:
− “director” – the function of direction
(“director, as it is, only God”. In this
metaphorical microcontext there is an
allusion to Shakespeare's famous saying that
the whole world is a theater, because only
God controls the life scenario;
− “above the hetman” – the function of
government (“above them only God”,
“today the senior Catholic God”. Here is the
supreme power of the highest power over
any secular leader – whether king, king,
hetman or president. Accordingly, he knows
everything, knows everything,
− “doer” – the function of planning “God
shuffles the deck of fate” a kind of game in
life.
Thus, as an intermediate conclusion, it can be
noted that the concept of “God” belongs to the
important linguistic formations in the creative
search of Victor Boiko and explains a number of
semantic fillings-planes. These include “God is a
supernatural being,” “God is love,” “God is
mercy,” “God is justice,” “God is help,” “God is
forgiveness.” Most often in these artistic and
semantic fillings the author uses syntagms with
predicative features that connote the admiration
of the almighty higher power that can help,
protect, save, and is the embodiment of the
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system of spiritual and moral virtues and
historical past ethnic group. In modeling these
artistic and semantic fillings, the poet uses a
variety of paths and stylistic figures.
Elements of the concept of “God” in the
conceptosphere of “Christianity” are
interconnected with the concept of “Soul”, which
also forms a poetic picture of the world of Victor
Boiko, because the idea of the soul as an
immortal substance characterizes almost all
beliefs. In ancient times, people thought about
the differences between living and inanimate
matter, believing that the soul has the properties
of matter or contained in the blood (because after
death man stopped breathing), in a dream the soul
separates from the body and travels.
The token “soul” with almost the same
morpheme structure exists in almost all Slavic
languages, which is etymologized from the
monosyllabic Proto-Slavic, related to Lithuanian,
with the semantics of respiration. This may be a
tracing paper from Latin and Greek, where the
meanings of “soul” and “spirit / breath / wind”
coincided. Similarly, with the token “spirit”,
which is also related to the Lithuanian semantics
of “air, unknown warm country, paradise”.
At the academic level, the word “soul” reveals
the following definitions: the inner mental
feelings of man; in religion – the immortal
intangible basis in man, which distinguishes it
from the animal; a set of traits inherent in a
particular person; feelings, energy; positive
person; the central figure of something. From
this, as well as from the Ukrainian folklore
tradition, we can determine the core artistic and
semantic content “soul – disembodied essence”,
“soul – human qualities”, “soul – human
qualities”, “soul – man”, “soul – inspiration”,
“soul – the main essence”; core “soul – fire”,
“soul – moral virtues”, “soul – breath”, “soul –
conscience, honesty”, “soul – breath”, “soul – a
living being”, “soul – a bird”; peripheral
(author's) “soul – death”, “soul – river”, “soul –
plant”, “soul – song”, “soul – thing”, “soul –
container”, “soul – national idea”, “soul –
oblivion”.
In the language of Victor Boiko’s poems, the
main representative of the concept of “Soul” is
the key word, there is also the token “spirit”, but
much less often.
In the semantic plane “Soul – man” such a
linguo-visual vision is realized mainly through
the traditional phrase “living soul”, which
sometimes distinguishes a person in an urban
context (for example, the author sees individuals
among machines). A more specific counterpart,
the phraseology “no soul” also verbalizes the
phenomenon of the absence of people, but is a
substitute for the negative pronoun “no one”. It's
the same, but when it comes to designating
objects, we fix it in the “two souls” situation.
The semantic plane “Soul is a disembodied
entity” is realized in several semantic planes,
among which – “soul – spirit”, “soul –
disembodiment”, “soul – eyes”, “soul – pain”,
“soul – sinfulness”, and is realized most often as
an object of action “hits the soul with laughter”,
“flows into my soul”, “does not take soul from
me”. The semantics of birth fills the phrase “and
the soul is cut” by analogy with the eruption of
teeth in a child and becoming, which is a painful
process, involves gaining experience, meeting
with not always a good world. The variant of the
token “soul”, “spirit” is dynamic and has the sign
of “light”, which allows it to fly (“spirit flies”,
“spirit flew”), soar (“spirit soars”).
In the semantic plane “Soul – sinfulness”
indicates the imperfection of man through the
sign of “sinner”, which can be meaningful “sinful
souls fly”, “on our sinful souls”, “Living in sinful
souls”, part of the traditional phrase to denote the
actual people ,” past the sinful soul”, two for a
sinful soul”, as well as part of the comparison or
metaphor “If the arrows are our sinful souls”, “I
took a lot of sins on my soul”, “a strong good
soul”. Note that the first situation is an allusion
to the Doomsday Clock, located in the city of
Chicago, where the Council of Experts
periodically decides to transfer the arrows. The
time left before midnight symbolically reflects
international relations, as well as the general state
of society. The onset of the north symbolizes a
nuclear crisis. So, Viktor Boiko, comparing the
hands of the earth's clock with souls, hints that
people are able to change the course of history,
to influence events in the world. However, the
epithet “sinners” here indicates that even in the
twenty-first century, people have not learned
kindness. The imperfection of man is evidenced
by the use of the enduring phrase “take sin to
heart” – to do something contrary to their own
beliefs.
The semantic plane “Soul – eyes” reflects the
popular folk phraseology “eyes are the mirror of
the soul”, because it is the eyes that convey the
full range of human emotions, and the view can
be much more eloquent than any words.
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Naturally, the poet can combine the words “soul”
and “eyes”, “look”, “see” even in one microtext.
In the semantic plane “Soul – pain” is realised a
constant unit of “mental pain”, which conveys a
difficult emotional state associated with negative
experiences. That is, the soul is also able to
experience pain, which at the lingual level is
manifested by the corresponding verbal
metaphor “the soul hurts”, “the soul will stop
hurting”), “therefore it hurts”, “Thought will
irritate the soul”. The last example uses a
metaphorical substitute for mental pain, which
can be expressed with the help of a permanent
compound “stone in the soul” . Thus, the positive
and negative emotions of life, which a person
passes through the soul during life, are deposited
on the soul like a stone; verses verbalised by the
poet – wind, storm – are able to “blow”, “blow
out” the soul, they are symbols of life's troubles,
disasters that can cause pain. Also, in this
context, the verb “to hurt” is not to hurt the soul.
In the semantic plane “Soul – loneliness” the core
is a sign expressed in the personified
combination “lonely soul” with variants “from
loneliness the soul seeks medicine”, “alone”
(reduplicated adjective representing a high
degree intensity of this feeling), as well as a
constant metaphorical connection “emptiness in
the soul”, which will warm the eye.
Similarly, negative is the plane “Soul – grief”,
where the relevant visions are verbalized by the
poet through metaphors that actualize perceptual
sensations of various kinds. For example, the
visual image created with the adverb “black”
conveys negative connotations, and syntagmatic
compatibility with the noun “shroud”
complements the picture, creating a depressing
mood, conveying an atmosphere of grief:
“windows shut the shroud”, “black on the soul”,
“black in the head”, “black on the soul”.
The semantic plane “Soul – disappointment” is
realized in the verbalization of tactile sensations,
mainly the temperature connection “cold in the
soul”, which has options “not warm in the soul”,
“cold soul can overcome fatigue”, “in the souls
of permafrost”, and actually touching “prickly
soul”. There are also taste reflections with
pejorative coloring: “the soul is not yet bitter”.
Negatively connoted motives related to the plane
of pain are also explained in the semantic plane
“Soul is an insult”. For example, in the
metaphorical combination “insult does not
liberate the soul” or using the phrase “wipe your
feet” “wipe your feet on the soul”.
The semantic plane “Soul – fear” is realized by a
small number of word usages to denote fear. For
example, the attribute “something hares in the
soul” corresponds to the constant combination
“hare soul”, which traditionally means fear, or
the existing personified image of fear (“fear
haunts”).
The positively connoted plane “Soul –
tenderness” reveals examples of the semantics of
intersubjective attitude. In particular, in the
sentence “I will cling to your tenderness with my
soul” the metaphorical form of the indicated
linguistic vision is conditioned by the warm
attitude of lyrical characters to each other.
The semantic plane “Soul – love” is verbalised in
the poet's language with the help of possessive
pronouns, as well as nouns and verbs with the
semantics of mutual attraction: “your soul is my
need”, “Your and my soul once again clung”,
realizing cognitive associations with something
high, bright and beautiful. This is helped by the
tautological repetition: “Let the soul into the soul
with joy”, “Soul from the soul, like a star from a
star”, “Where the soul is without a soul, like a
wound”.
The semantic plane “Soul – courage” is realised,
in particular, through the epithets: “little darling”
, “Cossack soul”, “not from the shovel soul”.
In the nucleus zone we distinguish the following
components:
− “Soul – fire / heat” (metaphors with the
implicit image of fire “warms the soul”,
“someone warmed my soul”; metaphors of
the genitive type “tar of the soul”), on fire
from above”; metaphors with chiasm
“human soul is trying to warm”;
metaphorical image of fire “my soul is
burning”. Also, in this area we define the
active use of verb forms “burns”, “burns”,
“burned” that correspond to the negative
connotations of “harm, pain, hit.” On the
other hand, positive connotations are
manifested in the metaphor of “to warm the
soul”.
− “The soul is a living being” the
humanization of the soul is facilitated by
verbal metaphors in which the soul is able to
perform actions inherent in man – to listen,
want, write, cry, cry, wander: “the soul
wants”, “The Soul of the Wanderer”, “the
soul cries to someone”, “the soul cries out”,
“the soul hurries”. The artist here actualizes
the expression of metaphorical actions of the
soul). Also, in this plane are actively
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/ March 2024
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involved signs – epithets, expressed by
adjectives and adjectives “singing”,
“defeated”, “young”, “right”, “quiet”,
“alienated”, “human”; the soul comes to life
through the form of treatment (including
paremia – “walk the soul without kuntusha”)
and somatism (it has eyes, knees and other
human features);
− “Soul – moral virtues” transmitted through
metaphors and epithets: “the artist is great in
the soul”, “out of place soul”, “they have
nothing but the soul”.
− “The soul is a bird.” One of the most widely
used associations, due to the ancient beliefs
of the Slavs. In Viktor Boiko’s language
work – “birds and souls meet”, “stork's
soul”.
In the peripheral zone we distinguish the
following components:
− “Soul is death”. In many religions, death is
associated with the separation of the soul
from the body, when the body remains in
this world and the soul flies to another one
in Viktor Boiko's poetry: “The soul flies
away into eternity”, (used euphemisms to
denote death), “my soul does not breathe
incense” (euphemism to denote the
weakening of health).
− “Soul is a song”. This linguistic and cultural
vision is due to the fact that the song is an
expression of the inner world of the
performer, and therefore, his soul. The poet
says, “the flute is my soul”, “only the soul
would sing sometimes”, “long in the soul to
sing songs”, “on at dawn the soul swells”.
Thus, the analysis of the concept of “Soul”
allows us to assert that the linguistic picture of
the world by Viktor Boiko establishes the priority
of spiritual values over material ones, although at
the same time demonstrates their dialectical
unity. The core elements of the concept are
realized in the following semantic contents-
planes: “soul – disembodied essence”, “soul –
human qualities”, “soul – man”, “soul –
inspiration”, “soul – the main essence”; “soul –
fire”, “soul – moral virtues”, “soul – breath”,
“soul – conscience, honesty”, “soul – breath”,
“soul – a living being”, “soul – a bird”; peripheral
(author's) – “soul – death”, “soul – song”.
Conclusions
Analysing the peculiarities of the linguistic
expression of the implementation of the elements
of the Christian concepts “God” and “Soul” in
the language of poetry by Victor Boiko, we can
draw the appropriate conclusions:
− Elements of the concept of “God” are part of
the linguistic picture of the world of any
ethnic group. Accordingly, they are
important in poetry, manifesting the author's
language, which is characterized by
expressiveness and deep psychology. Also
in Ukrainian linguistic culture, the very
word “God” means not only a supernatural
force, but also a relative to an individual, a
believer, a defender and interlocutor. That is
why the poet, explicating the image of God
on the whole reality of life, compares
himself to him in his own feelings;
− Viktor Boiko is a Ukrainian poet of the turn
of the century, and therefore his work
syncretically combines love for his native
land and deep lyrics, political and everyday
motives, satire and good humour. And it is
the artist's eternal search for his ethnic roots,
certain trends in the universe that determine
his attention to the concepts of “Soul” and
“God”. At the same time, researchers
attribute his works to the so-called “quiet
poetry”, which is characterized by
meditation, elegia, deep psychology,
analysis of historical retrospect and the
proposal of perspective;
− The concept of “God” in the poems by
Viktor Boiko manifests a number of
meaningful planes: “God – a supernatural
being”, “God – love”, “God – mercy”, “God
– justice”, “God – help”, “God –
forgiveness” belonging to the nuclear zone;
The elements of the core zone define the
deep in the sense of semantic analysis and
associativity unit “director”, “above the
hetman”, “executor”, which correspond to
the functions of management, planning and
assistance. They are realised within the
framework of metaphorical constructions
and various stylistic figures;
− The concept of “Soul” is also an active part
of the poetic picture of the world by Viktor
Boiko, revealing the following core planes
of meaning: “Soul – man”, “Soul –
disembodied essence”, “Soul – sinfulness”,
“Soul – eyes”, “Soul – pain”, “Soul –
loneliness”, “Soul – grief”, “Soul –
disappointment”, “Soul – insult”, “Soul –
fear”, “Soul – tenderness”, “Soul – love”;
“Soul – fire / heat”, “Soul – a living being”,
“Soul – moral virtues”, “Soul – a bird”;
peripheral – “Soul – death”, “Soul – song”.
These elements fully correspond to the
ethnic language picture of the world,
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representing not only the author's
idiosyncrasy, but also Ukrainian culture in
general.
Thus, the verbal realisation of the Christian
concepts of “God” and “Soul” in the poetry by
Viktor Boiko reveals the philosophical content
and deep psychology of his interpretation of the
universe, metaphorical saturation of his language
and even a certain priority of spiritual values over
material, albeit in their dialectical unity.
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