Female ontology in the fiction of Dokiya Humenna

Abstract

The article highlights the problem of women's existence in a patriarchal society not only in Dokiya Humenna's novels and stories dedicated to the depiction of contemporary dramatic reality, but also in her lesser-known historical fiction. The writer did not limit herself to the psycho-physiological basis of the tense relationship between the masculine and feminine worlds, but also comprehended them in the space of society, sought a philosophical meaning to justify the binary opposition of integral being, which prompted her to delve into the historical past of Trypillian culture, when matriarchy was in its last phase of existence. She traced women's stories on the example of fictional versions of historiosophical novels such as The Golden Plough, The Great Goat, etc. with an autobiographical basis, using the possibilities of science fiction, to which the author was critical, and could, overcoming time and space distances, simultaneously be in her own time and ancient ages, here-and-now, here-and-always. At the same time, each specific historical era with its own colour is preserved. The subject matter is convincing, as is the psychology of the past centuries, when the cult of the Great Mother reigned supreme. The matriarchy with its specifics can no longer be repeated or recreated, so we need to know it as it really was, without imposing matrices that are not characteristic of it. Historiosophical novels reveal its essence through the psyche of the characters, captivate with adventure episodes, unexpected intrigues, dangerous journeys, the unity of the physical and metaphysical worlds, exotic topoi of the ancient world, and the uncompromising competition between matriarchal and patriarchal values.