Keywords
identity
trauma of forced displacement
refugee
Russian-Ukrainian war
refugee
How to Cite
Abstract
The article examines Yevheniia Kuznetsova’s new novel The ladder (2023), which is dedicated to the events of the Russian-Ukrainian war, in particular, the topic of Ukrainian refugees. The research is based on the principles of postcolonial criticism, trauma studies, and memory studies. The change in the national narrative and its purification from pseudo-imperial codes are observed in the artistic world of The ladder. The painful change of identity in the novel is presented as a symbolic path from forced migration home and thus to one’s own true self. One of the possible interpretations of the eponymous ladder is substantiated. The author analyzes the trauma of forced displacement recorded in The Ladder, which partially coincides with the painful loss of identity, the opposition of the Self to the Other (in the work, the correlation of the Other expands from the Alien to the Enemy), and the reliving of the survivor complex.
References
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