«And fun, and not so boring, at easter as a holiday» (national memory of the word: Kotlyarevsky – Shevchenko – Kulish)

In the article for the first time in Ukrainian linguistics the juxtaposition of artistic (poetic) and non-fiction works is carried out, in which the words symbols of the Ukrainian national culture – Easter, motley are attested. It is noted that these words-concepts are expressions of national memory, which is etched in texts, dictionaries, in generations of people, in the national-cultural consciousness of the people. The starting point was the position of memory – a psychological category inherent in the artistic text. It is manifested differently in poetic and prose works and reveals specific features of text and meaning in those texts. Because each text is created in a specific style, genre, the forms of expression of meaningful units of memory undergo textual, as well as individual-style transformation. It is not only about the peculiarities of the associative thinking of the subjects who make the text, but also about the typical lexico-grammatical and textual means of explaining the concepts of national culture.Writers I. Kotlyarevsky, T. Shevchenko, and P. Kulish, sensing the symbolism of ethno-cultural tokens, filled them with a concrete and sensual perception of the festive and everyday, as well as socio-cultural content. The national memory of these words is the potential for self-knowledge.Different genre-style texts of the Ukrainian literary language trace the constancy of the antithesis «high and low», «fun and sad», «lyrical and tragic», which are related to the words-symbols Easter, motley. Easter in the assessment of writers is not only an annual Christian holiday, but also an ideal of life for the Ukrainian people.Writers as thinkers always strive for the conclusion of some universal truths. And for their word to reach the reader, it must be an integral part of national memory.