Discursivity in Volodymyr Vynnychenko’s Diary Text: A Comparative Analysis with French Modernist Diaries

Aim of the Article: To investigate the discursive peculiarities of Volodymyr Vynnychenko’s diary entries in comparison with the diaries of French modernists (André Gide, Gabriel Marcel, Jean- Paul Sartre, Albert Camus). Objectives: To identify commonalities and distinctions in discursive models (rhetorical and playful), to analyse the influence of authorial consciousness, genre traditions, and historical context (particularly emigration) on the formation of the diary text of both groups of writers. Originality: This study undertakes the inaugural comparative analysis of the discursivity in the diaries of Volodymyr Vynnychenko and French modernists, thereby elucidating the specificities of the Ukrainian writer within the European literary context. It examines the features of auto-meta-description, chronotope, and the poetics of the diary genre in the works of the studied authors. Research Methods: The comparative-historical method is employed to juxtapose the diaries of V. Vynnychenko and French modernists within their respective literary and historical contexts. Discourse analysis is utilised to examine linguistic strategies, types of authorial consciousness, and models of representation in the diary texts. Elements of reader-response criticism are incorporated to understand the potential impact of the diaries on the reader. Conclusions: While sharing rhetorical (expression of personal stance) and playful (stylistic épater le bourgeois, «stream of consciousness») discursive models with French modernists, Vynnychenko’s diaries are distinguished by a unique synthesis of documentary, biographical, and artistic principles. In contrast to the French writers, a significant influence of the Ukrainian historical context and the emigration experience is evident in Vynnychenko’s work, reflected in the themes and emotional intensity of the entries. His diary serves as a valuable resource for understanding not only the writer’s oeuvre but also the era of Ukrainian liberation struggles and the nuances of national consciousness