Genre Laboratory: Stylistic Experiments in Reportage (Contemporary Ukrainian Reportages)

Abstract

The paper provides an analysis of a range of issues related to the development of Ukrainian literary reportage. The contribution of reportage from the 1920s to the genesis of the modern genre and the influence of the Polish school of reportage have been noted. Among the reasons for the genre’s popularity is the Samovydets literary reportage competition, launched in 2013. The Russian-Ukrainian war contributed to the development of the genre. Collections of reports have been provided, authors-reporters have been named, and approaches to classification have been outlined. The study is intended to examine synthetic narrative and stylistic processes in the origin of reporting, which enhance its functionality in wartime literature. The paper considers the “language of war” in Ukrainian reportage and its loans from other genres. Attention is drawn to the influence of social networks, overlapping with therapeutic writing and psychological literature (reports by Olga Kari and others). The reportage style characterizes other genres, in particular diaries. Scholarly incorporations in the stylistic palette of reportage are highlighted. In Ukrainian wartime reportage, the connection with history is particularly relevant (for instance, in the books of Oleksandr Mykhed). Attention is drawn to the place of journalism in the nature of the genre. The most difficult issue is the interaction between reporting and artistic style. An example of talented literary reporting on the Russian-Ukrainian war is the work of Polish author and reporter Paweł Reszka, A Table with a View of the Kremlin (2024). The artistic style is characteristic of Myroslav Laiuk’s reportage. The author takes into account the features of composition, syntax, text rhythm, and tropes. Thus, war appears as a transformational period for reportage. This indicates its promising future in literature and its potential to transition into more complex structures. Reportage can be a proto-genre and a meta-genre. Integrating basic and additional styles, reportage is ultimately a document that exerts a moral power.