Leader-Symbol-Hostage: V. Vynnychenko and the Ukrainian Society of the Early 20th Century

Abstract

The article is devoted to V.Vynnychenko's relations with the Ukrainian society in the early 20th century. It is revealed how his works helped to raise the intellectual level of the Ukrainian society, influenced upon not only the Ukrainian, but also the Russian-speaking reader, analyzed the motives for posing the question of "transition" to Russian literature, the peculiarities of reaction on the work of the writer in the Russian-language press of the Ukrainian provinces on the example of Kharkiv. It is proved that V. Vynnychenko, being the leader of the latest trends in Ukrainian literature, became a symbol of the modern transformation of society, but also a hostage of the traditionalism of the Ukrainian intelligentsia and the peasantry.