Вербалізація концептів ВОЛЯ–НЕВОЛЯ і ДЕРЖАВНІСТЬ–БЕЗДЕРЖАВНІСТЬ у поетичних текстах Тараса Шевченка

This article examines how Taras Shevchenko conceptualizes the dichotomies FREEDOM–BONDAGE and STATEHOOD–STATELESSNESS as elements within the legal dimension of his worldview. The focus is placed on the specific ways in which these conceptual antonymic pairs are verbalized in his poetic texts. Shevchenko's poetry demonstrates the verbalization of freedom and statehood (and conversely bondage and statelessness) as conceptual synonyms, while the pairs freedom– bondage and statehood–statelessness function as conceptual oppositions. These concepts form an integral part of the legal segment of the poet's conceptual worldview and, through his deeply influential literary legacy, continue to shape both historical and contemporary Ukrainian collective consciousness. Both Shevchenko's original poems and his paraphrases of psalms underscore the significance of the sacral dimension in his verbal representations, in which freedom and statehood emerge as key conceptual components. His conceptual model also highlights universal archetypal oppositions such as light–darkness, sacred–profane, heavenly– earthly, in-group–out-group, as well as the trichotomic opposition past–present–future. For Shevchenko, bondage was not confined to his personal experience. At the time, Ukraine — forcibly deprived of its statehood — remained divided between the Russian and Austrian Empires. The conditions of Russian occupation were markedly harsher for Ukrainians than those under Austrian rule. In Shevchenko's worldview, contemporary ISSN 0027-2833. Мовознавство, 2025, № 5 63 Вербалізація концептів ВОЛЯ–НЕВОЛЯ і ... bondage was inseparable from statelessness, while the historical past — embodied by the Kyivan Rus and the Cossack-Hetmanate — symbolized Ukrainian freedom and statehood. Freedom also appeared as a projected ideal, particularly evident in poems about children (personal freedom) and about Ukraine's future (national freedom). Beyond these temporal dimensions, Shevchenko identified the Caucasus — a neighbouring region — as a living symbol of freedom, as the Russian Empire waged a long and brutal war against its freedomseeking peoples.