HUMAN BEING UNDER OCCUPATION: EXISTENTIAL DIMENSIONS IN THE PLAYS BY ULAS SAMCHUK AND IGOR KOSTETSKY

Abstract

The article analyzes the dramaturgical strategies of comprehending the experience of occupation in the plays written by Ukrainian émigré writers of the mid-20th century – Ulas Samchuk («One Can Hear the Noise of the Millstones») and Igor Kostetsky (The Twins Will Meet Again). The analysis is conducted in the context of contemporary critical thinking about the space of occupation as a multifaceted phenomenon that encompasses physical destruction, psychological trauma, identity transformation, and moral choices in extreme circumstances. The study focuses on a comparative characterization of artistic solutions, features of spatial organization, ethical models of character behavior, and gender perspectives in conditions of total violence. 
It has been proven that Ulas Samchuk adheres to a realistic paradigm with an emphasis on a specific historical time and space, while Ihor Kostetsky offers a modernist aesthetic of the theater of the absurd and metadramatic techniques. Both texts demonstrate a high expressive tension between silence and action, between personal ideas and collective responsibility, questioning the possibility of an unambiguous moral choice in conditions of occupation.
Particular attention is paid to the analysis of female characters as bearers of an alternative form of resistance, capable of ambivalence, compromise, and preserving humanity in a dehumanized space. It is shown that both plays create an artistic space in which death, love, memory, and politics interact in the tension of an existential test.