The Capital and the Province as „Other Spaces” in the Creative Works of Hryhor Tiutiunnyk

Abstract

The novel My Saturday Day by Hryhir Tiutiunnyk is analyzed through the lens of
Michel Foucault’s concept of heterotopia, which sheds light on the perception of the concepts of the city (capital) and the village (province) as „other spaces”, prevalent in Ukrainian culture of the 20th century. This autobiographical work primarily serves as a „spiritual biography” of the writer, in which the city and the village as „other spaces” play pivotal roles. The central character is Mykola Porubai (his alter ego), who emerges as a result of „introspective contemplation in front of a mirror”, entailing self-analysis.
Within the narrative, the urban landscape is presented as an „external heterotopia”, encompassing the concrete metropolis of Kyiv, wherein the principal events rooted in this space unfold in real-time. This „enclosed” realm serves as both a cultural and existential nucleus for the Ukrainian individual. Conversely, the rural domain embodies an „internal heterotopia”, existing solely within the realm of perceptions and interpretations of the protagonist – his memories, recollections, aspirations, associations, his mother’s letter, and more. Thus, in the narrative, the village and the city, both conceived as „other spaces”, intertwine, emotionally linked in the protagonist’s and author’s minds alike. This inseparability of the opposing dilemma gives rise to the imagery of Kyiv, the capital (center), and a village in the Poltava region (province). The protagonist grapples with an existential choice between these spaces, which cyclically morph into utopian and dystopian forms. This transition between heterotopic dimensions is focalized within the context of a Saturday.