Western and Eastern Ukrainian Romanticism through the Prism of Almanacs: «Rusalka Dnistrovaja» («Mermaid of the Dniester») and «Lastivka» («The Swallow»).

Abstract

Research aim. To analyze the dominants of Ukrainian romanticism based on the material of two publications – «Rusalka Dnistrovaya» and «Lastivka».

Methodology of the research. The study used general scientific and special philological methods, namely: analysis and synthesis, historical-descriptive, biographical and philological methods.

The scientific novelty. Territorially divided Ukrainians developed common romantic tendencies in contemporary publications, which became a source of culture and enlightenment, opposed mental originality to chauvinism and the assimilation policy of the occupiers and united the people. The choice of publications was determined by the comprehensive vision of the compilers, the holistic structure and national-centric orientation of the almanacs. The «successors» tended towards eclecticism, inconsistency of editorial policy, and conformism.

The inertia of romanticism is noticeable in the art and literature of the 20th and 21st centuries. The introduction of romantic ideas on Ukrainian soil, primarily the actualization of folklore and historical memory, contributed to the restoration of ethno-identification and formed the main national concepts for the revival of independent Ukraine. Almanacs were a kind of encyclopedias-chrestomathies that acted as «spokesmen» of romanticism – an outpost of the renewal of the essence of Ukrainians.

Conclusions. Thanks to the publishing activities of public and cultural figures who identified romanticism as the leading one, Ukrainians regained the rights to their language, literature, history, science and education. «Rusalka Dnistrovaya» and «Lastivka» proved the uniqueness and separateness of Ukrainians in order to be an independent and equal subject, first in the humanitarian discourse, and later in the political one. The main achievement of Yevhen Hrebinka and the «Ruska Trinity» was the affirmation of the equality and value of the Ukrainian language (only Ukrainian-language texts!), which unites the people, is a treasury of feelings and thoughts, and preserves the experience of ancestors. The priority of romanticism in almanacs became the initial impetus for self-awareness of oneself as a nation and Ukraine as a single state.