Ideological and Aesthetic Parameters of the Dramaturgy of Stanisław Przybyshewski and Volodymyr Vynnychenko

Abstract

The article examines the features of the dramaturgy of the Polish author Stanisław Przybyszewski (1868-1927) and the Ukrainian author Volodymyr Vynnychenko (1880–1951) at a comparative and typological level. The commonality of their philosophical and worldview dominants of creativity, the influence of Western European writing on the formation of the fundamental foundations of their poetics and aesthetics are proven, while the differences between them are also revealed. Analyzing the dramas of Polish and Ukrainian writers in the light of modern comparative literary methodology, the research focus is mainly on the models of the “new European play” created by the writers with its meticulous focus on the inner-psychological world of the characters, on emotional-physiological senses and feelings and needs, on habitual human instincts. This is how Polish playwright Stanisław Przybyszewski presents the instincts of love, sex, and conscience, or in general the psychological and pathological state of an ego-individualist (“In the Name of Happiness,” “The Golden Fleece,” “Mother,” “The Eternal Tale,” “The City,” etc.)and in the plays of Ukrainian author Volodymyr Vynnychenko, the instincts of honesty, love, eroticism, fatherhood, duty, morality, and the genetic self-rooting of one’s own “self” become fateful for the heroes of his plays (“Disharmony”, “Steps of Life”, “Memento”, “Bazaar”, “Lie”, “Black Panther and the White Bear” etc.). In such works by both writers, the moral, mental and spiritual retributions of the characters for their actions and immoral instincts, no matter how natural they may be, appear true. The article uses the example of analyzing these self-expressions of characters to examine in a comparative manner drama “Snow” by Stanisław Przybyszewski and drama “Law” by Volodymyr Vynnychenko. Built on the respective concepts of “naked soul” (in the works of the Polish playwright) and “honesty with oneself” (in the plays of the Ukrainian writer), they each revealed the basic instincts of their characters in their own way. But the only difference exists between these works: in the first play the erotic instinct prevailed, and in the second play the maternal instinct plays the main role. This cross-section of the issues and plot, as well as the main direction of the general pathos of both works (despite their writing at different times), substantiates their similarity, as well as their difference in stylistic colouring. If the Polish author symbolically recognized an abstract event and action that was quite distant from reality, the Ukrainian author resorted to completely real circumstances and events, focusing on the example of one family and at the same time used realistic-expressionist techniques in his creative manner. Therefore we can argue about the dissimilarity and stylistic originality of their dramatic artistic thinking. The study also focuses on the comparative and typological characteristics of the study of these works, as well as the entire dramaturgy of Stanisław Przybyszewski and Volodymyr Vynnychenko, with their stage versions in the theatrical art of Poland and Ukraine.