Colour code of Natalka Nikulina᾿s poetry
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31494/2412-933Х-2018-1-6-140-149Keywords:
colour symbolism, red, white, black, guilder rose, fire.Abstract
The study results of Natalka Nikulina’s poetry are presented in the article. It is determined that the colouris a part of imagery system which forms the poetic model of the world, marking the seasons, gender, intellect and her lyrical heroine’s state of mind. The coloured centre of the poetess’ lyrics is the triad: white/red/black. The colours in N.Nikulina’s poems both explicit and implicit are presented. Analysis of the associative potential of white colourin the poems of a Dnieper poetess shows that for her lyrical heroine this colour is the symbol of purity/sinlessness, sincerity, perfection of the world. Red colouris mostly reinterpreted by the through, conceptually loaded images of the guilder rose and fire. It is a guilder rose image that often triggers the intensified reflexion onthe heroine’sown existence and the destiny of the whole Ukraine as well, being a specific markerand a sacred code. The high semiotic status of guilder rose image is highlighted as early as the titles of the poetry collections and poems. The images of the guilder rose, guilder rose berries and fire, as the equivalents of the red colour, extrapolate to the inner world of the lyrical heroine, revealing her social and spiritual activity, genetic rejection of vital stillness: she passionately loves a man, she insanely loves Ukraine and detests its enemies. The heroine’s temperament, her thirst for the fullness of life, her awareness of the struggle as an immanent human condition are manifested through the system of metaphors with semantics of fire, and combustion is interpreted as a true human trait. We have every reason to assert that the dominance of the red colour and its imagery associations in the Ukrainian mentality (like a guilder rose, fire, poppy) present the very essence of N.Nikulina’s lyrical heroine. Black colour in N.Nikulina’s poetry is a visual emotional marker of lyrical heroine’s melancholy/depression. The microimages of mud and light absence create a picture of society as spiritually empty, aggressive from envy, indifferent to other people’s grief and pain. The depressive mood in N.Nikulina’s poetry isundoubtedly predetermined by her scientific and creative underestimation and non-popularity both in Soviet era and in the times of Ukraine’s independence. In N.Nikulina’s poetry, traditional Ukrainian colours combined with various images that enhance colour code, transmit the wide range of meanings. Colour aesthetics in the Dnieper poetess’ work is predetermined not only by national stereotypes, but also by its archetypical sensation. Accordingly, coloured triad transmits emotional and psychological and philosophical features of the lyrical heroine and, to some extent, the poetess herself.
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