Literature influence on society: Mariupol State University student’s scientific work highly praised at an international competition

For the second time, Elina Sylenko, a student of the educational program "Philology (English, French)" of the Mariupol State University, became the prize winner at the international competition of student scientific works for atypical research. 

Kremenchuk National University, named after Mykhailo Ostrohradsky, acted as organizer and founder of the creative competition, and European educational institutions were co-organizers. This is the only competition for student scientific works in Ukraine, held under the auspice of the National Commission of Ukraine for UNESCO.

For her scientific project, Elina chose the topic "The motive of split personality in the novel "American Psychopath" by Bret Easton Ellis, or How a serial maniac became a meme and an idol." The girl worked on the research under the guidance of Nataliya Horodniuk, professor of the English philology department.

The MSU student surveyed people of different ages, determining their opinion about the meaning of the novel, sympathy, or antipathy for the protagonist Patrick Bateman. Elina then analyzed the responses, critics' reviews, and the novel text to understand why many teenagers consider the main character a role model and how this can affect society.

This year, more than 500 student scientific works participated in the competition. Their authors were representatives of 137 tertiary education institutions from 30 countries in Europe, Western and Eastern Asia, and the United States of America.

The research of the MSU student was selected for the final defence, which took place on June 6. According to the evaluation results, Elina Sylenko's work took third place at the International Competition of Student Research Papers in the specialty "Philology".