"ŠESŤ CUDZINCOV" М. VADASA Z "INTERNÁTU" S. ŽADANA NA CESTE ZA SLOBODOU

The aim of the article is to study issues related to the phenomenon of freedom in the works of leading authors of Slovak and Ukrainian contemporary literature, specifically in the collection of short stories by Marek Vadas “Six Strangers” and in Serhiy Zhadan's novel “Тhe Orphanage”. The hermeneutic method as well as the method of comparative analysis are used to interpret the analyzed works of fiction. The chosen approach led to the conclusion that the Ukrainian author Serhiy Zhadan captures authentic war events in his novel, with which he draws attention to the trampling of freedom of the Ukrainian nation by the Russian occupiers, as well as to the process of inner awareness and awakening of the protagonist, who only after fearing death begins to appreciate basic human values. Marek Vadas, on the other hand, perceives freedom rather as some transcendental substance that is not natural, but controlled by a Divine entity, and deals with the liberation of the soul from physical existence.The aim of the article is to study issues related to the phenomenon of freedom in the works of leading authors of Slovak and Ukrainian contemporary literature, specifically in the collection of short stories by Marek Vadas “Six Strangers” and in Serhiy Zhadan's novel “Тhe Orphanage”. The hermeneutic method as well as the method of comparative analysis are used to interpret the analyzed works of fiction. The chosen approach led to the conclusion that the Ukrainian author Serhiy Zhadan captures authentic war events in his novel, with which he draws attention to the trampling of freedom of the Ukrainian nation by the Russian occupiers, as well as to the process of inner awareness and awakening of the protagonist, who only after fearing death begins to appreciate basic human values. Marek Vadas, on the other hand, perceives freedom rather as some transcendental substance that is not natural, but controlled by a Divine entity, and deals with the liberation of the soul from physical existence.