PANTELEIMON KULISH'S EPISTOLARY AS A SOURCE OF CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE CULTURAL PROCESS FIRST HALF OF THE 19TH CENTURY (BASED ON THE MATERIAL OF LETTERS TO OLEKSANDR BARVINSKY)

Abstract

Epistolary literature is not only a valuable and extremely important component of Ukrainian literary studies, which has emerged relatively recently, but also attracts researchers due to the opportunity to trace various aspects of life, in particular historical and cultural, while preserving its everyday character. At the same time, it opens the way to deeper penetration into the psychological world of the artist.

The research is dedicated to the specifics of Panteleimon Kulish's epistolary work, which represents the artist's critical and caring attitude to processes in the socio-cultural environment of the time.

The article analyzes P. Kulish's literary and critical assessments of the cultural, particularly literary, process based on 63 letters of private correspondence with Oleksandr Barvinsky, a well-known Ukrainian public and political figure of Galicia, historian and teacher. The correspondence began in 1869 after P. Kulish gave a lengthy and sharp response to the addressee's request for help in selecting materials for a reading book.

The correspondence lasted quite a long time — until 1890 — and was published in O. Barvinsky’s “Memories of My Life” (2004). In accordance with the tasks set, the epistolary was processed taking into account the thematic basis and motives of the correspondence, and its value as an important fact of the literary process was proven. On the basis of individual vivid examples, literary-critical assessments are highlighted, which allow us to testify to the consistency of the writer’s identification of his own views on social and public problems and provide valuable information about the details of his personal life.