Name Code of the French Revolution in the Dramatic Dialogue Three Minutes by Lesya Ukrainka

Abstract

The discourse of the French
Revolution is somehow present in Lesya Ukrainka's multi-genre works, in particular
in epistolary, journalistic works, etc. This theme is most clearly concentrated in the
dramatic dialogue Three Minutes. The writer uses the historical conflict between the
Montagnards and the Girondists as an artistic tool to reveal the philosophical choice
of an individual between life and death, the hesitation of the individual at the
epicenter of turbulent social events. The small text covers an extensive system of
cultural codes, in which the leading place is occupied by the nominal component. The
aim of the research is a comprehensive analysis of the name code in the dramatic
dialogue Three Minutes, which will reveal the author's concept of the work. It is
important that the main characters, who are the representatives of two warring
parties, appear in the text without names and descriptions. In such a situation, the
determinants of their characters are the material world, topos, language, and so on. In
passionate dialogues we find many vocations to historical figures who help to reveal
the controversy of the revolutionary situation in France. In particular, the article
identifies at least three types of nominal code in the work. The first one is the ancient
Roman, which is mainly based on appeals to the history of the conflict between
Caesar and Brutus. It is used to reveal the concept of sacrificial death, which
perpetuates the idea washed with blood. The mention of a number of female names in
the history of ancient Rome and their logical combination with the charismatic figure
of the French Revolution – Madame Roland – activates the feminist discourse in the
text. Secondly, the biblical nominal code, which is primarily realized by the indirect
mention of the Apostle Peter and serves to testify the inevitable diffusion of the idea
in the process of passing it on to descendants. Third, the historical figures of France
are presented in detail. This category of characters most clearly demonstrates the
author's destruction of the historical hierarchy: the avoidance of odious participants in
the revolution and concentration on the margins. The nominal code in the dramatic
dialogue is represented by numerous anthropological symbol that allow to express the
ideological coordinates of the main characters, compensating for their anonymity.