Tetiana Danyliuk-Tereshchuk
Wschodnioeuropejski Uniwersytet Narodowy imienia Łesi Ukrainki (m. Łuck, Ukraina)
Anotation. The article reveals and analyzes the interpretation uniqueness of folklore and
mythological image of the devil in the prose works by G. Kvitka-Osnovyanenko, P. Kulish, M.
Kostomarov, O. Storozhenko. The study sheds the light on the image genesis, functions,
features, semantic peculiarities of the character in oral tradition and authors’ perception of it. The
writers are fairy original in creating the literary image of the devil and are not confined to only one
motive (“bargain with the devil” (faustian bargain), “selling one’s soul to the devil”, “Devil guards
the treasures”, “devil fears the cross/holy water”, etc.). The authors synthesize the material
according to their own individual aesthetic conception. Under these conditions, the archetypal for
most cultures image of the devil has gained the semantic polyphony of a true literary character,
which in the terms of the principle of confrontation/ interaction with the world of humans, has
manifested itself in all significant ideological dimensions. The latter implies social pragmatics and
philosophical importance, moral-ethical codes and multidimensional nature of art. Using the
language of associations and mythological contaminations romanticists proclaim eternal
categories of human entity (life - death, good - evil, sin - atonement).
Keywords: The article reveals and analyzes the interpretation uniqueness of folklore and
mythological image of the devil in the prose works by G. Kvitka-Osnovyanenko, P. Kulish, M.
Kostomarov, O. Storozhenko. The study sheds the light on the image genesis, functions,
features, semantic peculiarities of the character in oral tradition and authors’ perception of it. The
writers are fairy original in creating the literary image of the devil and are not confined to only one
motive (“bargain with the devil” (faustian bargain), “selling one’s soul to the devil”, “Devil guards
the treasures”, “devil fears the cross/holy water”, etc.). The authors synthesize the material
according to their own individual aesthetic conception. Under these conditions, the archetypal for
most cultures image of the devil has gained the semantic polyphony of a true literary character,
which in the terms of the principle of confrontation/ interaction with the world of humans, has
manifested itself in all significant ideological dimensions. The latter implies social pragmatics and
philosophical importance, moral-ethical codes and multidimensional nature of art. Using the
language of associations and mythological contaminations romanticists proclaim eternal
categories of human entity (life - death, good - evil, sin - atonement).