Existential image of woman in the works of Kobo Abe and Valery Shevchuk: a comparative aspect

The article is dedicated to a deep analysis of the image of women in the context of existentialism and absurdity, as presented in the novels of Japanese writer Kobo Abe and Ukrainian author Valery Shevchuk. The authors investigate such works by Kobo Abe as “Woman in the Dunes”, “The Face of Another”, and “Almost Like a Person”, as well as Shevchuk's novels “House on the Hill”, “In the Humble Field”, and “Birds of the Invisible Island”. The research emphasizes how existential and absurd aspects manifest in the portrayal of female characters who face internal conflicts, the search for identity, and social constraints. Both authors use elements of surrealism to enhance the sense of unreality and absurdity, reflecting the complexities of women's roles in the modern world. The relevance of the work lies in the significant impact that the works of Abe and Shevchuk leave on literary discourse, reflecting the specificity of cultural contexts in Japan and Ukraine. Despite the rarity of comparative studies of these authors, the article demonstrates both similarities in their approaches to the representation of female images and the potential for further exploration of their works. The study opens new horizons for understanding the influence of existentialism on literature, highlighting the importance of the representation of women in the context of absurd existence.