Autoreferential Modes of Oleksandra Sudovschykova-Kosach’s Work: Ego-text “Chaos” and Drama “Why”

Abstract

The article examines the unique aspects of bilingual writer Oleksandra  Sudovschykova’s (pen name: Hrytsko Hryhorenko) creative legacy. It focuses on her autobiographical work “Chaos” and the unpublished drama “Why”, housed in the National Museum of Ukrainian Literature. The purpose of the article is to analyze the autoreferential discourse as the primary theme in both works. In recent years, there has been increased interest in autoreferential discourse within philology. This concept involves the author’s self-
referential messaging as the main subject, implying intense textual reflexivity and
deliberate self-identification attempts. Investigating autoreferentiality combines
various literary methods: historical-cultural, structural-semiotic, and psychological, along with intertextual and metadramatic analysis elements. The research also compares autoreferential modes in documentary and fictional works, exploring the interplay between nonfiction literature and fictional imagery.

Results. The article examines gender aspects in Oleksandra Sudovschykova’s autoreferential discourse, focusing on emancipatory themes, female thinking, and
self-conceptualization in two works. It considers modern scholarly interpretations of gender in late 19th and early 20th-century literature (V. Ageeva, L. Miroshnychenko, M. Krupka, A. Shvets). The study highlights innovations in women’s writing through Sudovschykova’s self-expression in the ego-text “Chaos” and the play “Why”. It concludes that autoreferentiality modes in these works are shaped by genre conventions while rooted in the author’s personal experience and identity. “Chaos” exemplifies nonfiction’s unique frankness, with a stream-of-consciousness style where the writer identifies as a new Hamlet-type woman. “Why” explores the heroine’s struggle between self-realization in a male-dominated world and domestic life. Both texts are valuable for being among the first in early 20th-century Ukraine to illustrate the formation of dissent within established gender paradigms.