Ukrainian Literature in Antin Serednytsky’s Literary Articles

Abstract

The article argues that one of the primary tasks of Ukrainian humanities is to study the connections between Ukrainian literature and European research traditions, in particular with Polish literary studies. The necessity and importance of such relations is explained not only by the Slavic origin of Ukrainians and Poles, similar features of national character or common geopolitical threats, but also by the cultural-historical continuity and literary relations. Polish scholars show a constant interest in Ukrainian culture, primarily literature. A prominent place among them belongs to the Ukrainian by origin A. Serednytsky, whose creative work still remains insufficiently studied and appreciated. The legacy of the literary critic and literary scholar is almost entirely devoted to Ukraine. His work traces the main historical stages of the development of Ukrainian literature and the work of its leading writers.

The purpose of the proposed research is to analyze A. Serednicki’s literary-critical articles, dedicated to Ukrainian literature from XV to the XIX century. The research focus is on determining the theoretical priorities of the literary scholar, to his assessment of the creative achievements of Ukrainian authors, in particular in the perspective of their relations with Polish literature. For this purpose the research of A. Serednicki «The Contribution of Ukrainians to the Cultural Heritage of Poland» was studied, as well as some of his works dedicated to H. Skovoroda, H. Kvitka-Osnovyanenko, T. Shevchenko, M. Drahomanov, P. Kulish.

It is stated that all the literary-critical works of the Polish literary scholar and critic A. Serednytskyi devoted to the history of Ukrainian literature from its origins to the present day, as well as to the oeuvre of individual Ukrainian writersare informative and popularizing in character, and their significance lies precisely in the rich factual material that can still be drawn upon by present-day researchers. It is noted that, in examining the achievements of Ukrainian literature, A. Serednytskyi sought to situate them within the context of Polish-Ukrainian cultural contacts, treating Ukrainian literature with sympathy and a belief in good-neighborly relations between the two nations.