The Image of Pokrytka in The System of Mutual Images of Taras Shevchenko's and Hanna Barvinok's Texts

Abstract

The article analyzes the image of the pokrytka (an outcast woman who gave birth out of wedlock) within the system of interreflections between the literary texts of Taras Shevchenko and Hanna Barvinok. The aim of the study is to trace the transformation of this image from an object of sympathy and artistic interpretation of a tragic female fate in Shevchenko's poetic discourse to an internally integral, self-sufficient personality in Barvinok's prose, as well as to clarify the features of the intertextual dialogue between their works. The methodological framework is based on comparative and intertextual approaches, with elements of feminist criticism.
The material of the study includes the poems Kateryna and The Hireling, as well as the short stories She Triumphed and Korolivshchyna. It is established that in Shevchenko's works the image of the pokrytka acquires symbolic and archetypal significance, often appearing as an allegory of Ukraine's suffering, while at the same time preserving features of an individual female tragedy. In Barvinok's prose, however, the focus shifts to psychological depth and the heroine's subjectivity: the pokrytka emerges as a bearer of her own voice, capable of conscious choice and resistance to social condemnation.
Particular attention is paid to intertextual connections, especially the intertextual references of Kateryna in She Triumphed, manifested through quotations, plot parallels and variations of the motif of relationships with a soldier. It is argued that Barvinok not only reproduces Shevchenko's model but also proposes alternative scenarios of female destiny, allowing for the overcoming of social stigma. In comparing The Hireling and Korolivshchyna, different models of motherhood are traced – self-sacrificial and open, based on the heroine's conscious choice.
The study concludes that the evolution of the image of the pokrytka proceeds from symbolization to psychologization and individualization. Hanna Barvinok's works represent an important stage in the formation of women's writing, in which marginalized experience gains voice and value.