ROMANTIC VISION OF THE UKRAINIAN PAST IN THE WORK OF TOMASH PADURA

Abstract

The article highlights the romantic image of Cossack Ukraine of the XVI—XVIII c. in the creative heritage of the Polish poet and writer Tomash Padura, a native of the family of Bratslav nobleman. It was noted that in his young years the main source for him was oral folk art - storytelling, legends, Ukrainian songs and historical dumas. A few decades after the fall of the Hetm- anate, they reflected the realities of the Cossack era, the character and activities of its leaders. The complex of sources for Padura also included Polish literary and historical narratives with relevant assessments of the Ukrainian past. In Pa- dura’s works, Ukraine appears before the reader as a mysterious and exotic land that has been associated with freedom and freedom-loving people for centuries. Therefore, the main character of his works was the Cossacks, the chivalrous spirit of the Cossacks, victories over external enemies Moscovites, Tatars and Otto- mans were celebrated. At the same time, Padura proclaimed the idea of Polish- Ukrainian unity, bypassing the conflict pages in their past, sought, first of all, to involve the Ukrainian people into the struggle for the Polish cause - liberation from Russian imperial oppression. The leading figure in the poet’s poem is Kosh Ataman Ivan Sirko, who was distinguished for his courage and fostered a sense of independence and freedom in the hearts of his comrades. At the same time, Padura keeps silent about Sirko’s confrontation with Hetman Petro Doroshenko, who continued Bohdan Khmelnytsky’s policy of uniting Ukraine within ethnic boundaries. The figure of Hetman Ivan Mazepa as a fighter against Russian des- potism is also positively assessed. Padura strongly protests against the anath- ema imposed by the Moscovites on the “native hetman” and its proclamation in Ukrainian churches. Padura’s assessment of the Cossack era takes a completely different tone when it comes to the Ukrainian cause itself, the people’s desire to gain independence. In particular, he gives the most negative traits to Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky, who revived the Ukrainian state in the middle of the XVII century. Thus, the ethnic origin of Tomash Padura influenced the objective per- ception and coverage of the past of Ukraine. However, his work had a positive impact on the formation of historical themes as an integral factor of the Ukrai- nian national revival.