Century of Kotlyarevsky’s "Aeneid" ("Literary-Scientific Bulletin" for 1898
Kotlyarevsky to I. Nechuy-Levytsky; The compiler acquaints students with the creative work of such outstanding writers as G. Kvitka-Osnovyanenko, O. Storozhenko, E. Hrebinka, T. Shevchenko, P. Kulish, Marko Vovchok, L. Glibov, S. Rudansky. Each topic, which is a short biography and review of the work of one writer, is accompanied by recommendations for independent deepening of knowledge with the help of various historical and literary sources. For example, the following recommendation for schoolchildren is given about the work and life of the founder of new Ukrainian literature I. Kotlyarevsky: "More detailed information about Kotlyarevsky’s literary activity can be obtained: Efremov S. History of Ukrainian literature. Section IV; Kovalenko G. Century of Kotlyarevsky’s "Aeneid" (Literary-Scientific Bulletin for 1898, Book X); Yevshan MI Kotlyarevsky. Collection "Honor" Kharkiv, 1909; Further, for independent studies of the work of B. Hrinchenko, M. Hrushevsky, articles from the "Literary-Scientific Bulletin".
In the recommendations to the works of other writers we find references to the works of O. Barvinsky, D. Doroshenko, Y. Romanchuk and others. The textbook reflects the level of development of literary studies in Ukraine at that time with its national-democratic priorities, aspirations to see Ukraine free, independent. Historical and literary aspects are considered taking into account the previous achievements of Ukrainian literary critics and the historical and literary concept of S. Efremov. Often in A. Voronets’ textbook references are made to literary texts from complete editions of works by one or another author. By today’s standards, it can be argued that the textbook is overloaded with an "academic" approach to literary history, its language is scientifically dry. There is no didactic apparatus in the modern sense of the term. This situation can be partly explained by the underdevelopment of pedagogical and psychological sciences at that time not only in Ukraine but also in Europe. And also by the fact that Ukrainian pedagogical thought was in an extremely difficult financial situation: the young Ukrainian state was forced to repel the attacks of neighboring countries, to experience internal political and economic conflicts. The development of national schooling in the UPR era had a huge impact on the revival of Ukrainian schooling abroad, in the places of compact residence of our compatriots in the Eastern Diaspora – in the Green Wedge (Far East), in Eastern Slobozhanshchina (modern Kursk , Voronezh and Belgorod regions) Krasnodar Territory (Kuban), the Lower Volga and many other areas. It was at this time that close contacts began to be established between Ukrainian educators in almost all lands of the former Russian Empire, where the Ukrainian population lived compactly. Where possible, textbooks for Ukrainian children are beginning to appear.
02/15/2011
Ivan Franko’s research work in the field of Ukrainian literature of the 17th-18th centuries.
Ancient written monuments, according to Ivan Franko, must sooner or later revive in the broad masses "the sense of national continuity and solidarity that broke through in the great waves of the seventeenth century, but could not last long."
I. Franko considered ancient written monuments to be an extremely important and valuable source for studying the history of the region, the people, and its spiritual and cultural development. "… Our old writing," wrote Kamenyar, "represents … a rich treasury not only of our folk, but also of general cultural tradition, life wisdom and moral strength, that it has hidden for us the great power of monuments of spiritual creativity of outstanding units. and humble workers, whose names have not come down to us, and that the full and comprehensive revival of nationality is not possible without a detailed knowledge and exploitation of the means of spiritual power that we have in our old writing … ". I. Franko saw one of his important tasks in collecting, publishing and researching written monuments of the past. In this area of his work, the scientist has achieved significant success. As a result of tireless work in the manuscript departments of libraries in many cities, including Lviv, Przemyśl, due to constant trips to the villages of Galicia, Prykarpattia, Bukovyna and Zakarpattia, due to regular visits to book exhibitions organized by the Lviv Stauropean Institute and close ties with antiques, many I. Franko managed to find, collect and publish a large number of manuscripts and little-known or completely unknown monuments, to introduce them into scientific circulation, thus expanding the source base for future researchers. In the field of view of the Great Stonemason were different in style and genre and language monuments, the scientist was interested in ancient written monuments not only Ukrainian but also Church Slavonic, Old Russian, Russian, Polish, German and other languages. The great merit of I. Franko as a researcher is that he left us excellent examples of methods of research of ancient monuments. Frankish research of these monuments is marked by scientific honesty, depth and versatility. The author comprehensively analyzes the studied monument. He points not only to its historical and literary significance, but also provides a complete palaeographic description of the monument, extensive bibliographic data about it. In particular, the scientist pays attention to the place and date of writing the monument, its author, place of storage of the original or copy, publication of the monument, misreading of the monument, errors made by different publishers, misinterpretation of the meaning of individual words, analyzes the language of memory, pointing to its dialectal features, explains incomprehensible or obscure words. If necessary, I. Franko tries to establish the place and date of writing the monument, as well as its author. The ancient Russian narrative story topics poem "A Word about Lazarev’s Resurrection" can be indicative. On the basis of a detailed study of the linguistic features of three copies of this poem – Porfiev, Pinin and discovered by I. Franko Kiev, reconstruction and comparison of the text of these copies, study of graphics, style and rhythm, comparison with other monuments of that period, the scientist determines the date and place of writing poems, the linguistic nature of each copy, their relationship to the original, establishes a connection between the poem and "A Tale of Igor’s Regiment" pointing to common poetic images, poetic style and musical rhythm. Other written monuments are also characterized by scrupulous research. For example, the drama "A Word about the Perversion of Hell" covers. only 428 lines, but I. Franko submits to it more than 200 different readings, available in four versions of this monument. In addition, the scientist sets the date of writing the monument, considers its structure and rhythm, gives a description of the protagonists, points to the connection with the Cossack thoughts, etc. Almost every published and researched text – extensive comments, which mention scientific works devoted to the study of this monument. Providing such a rich scientific apparatus, I. Franko sought one thing – to facilitate the work of those scholars who would like to explore more deeply the important problems of the history of ancient literature and language. The methods of I. Franko’s research of ancient monuments also deserve attention. In addition to the descriptive method, the scientist is often used comparative. In particular, the author resorted to the latter in highlighting issues related to the history and origin of apocrypha and legends, spiritual and secular songs, Easter dramas, interludes and more. He especially appreciated the apocryphal stories and legends, which, in his opinion, had a great influence on later printed and oral literature, on the development of spiritual drama, church sermons, secular literature, including fairy tales, carols. Without texts of apocryphal literature, the researcher, according to I. Franko, "will always have to determine only approximately and predictively whether he is in this case dealing with direct borrowing or with some transfer from second or third hands, or, finally, with the creation free imagination of the author ". Publications of apocrypha and legends were made by I. Franko at a high scientific level, in compliance with almost all the features of the original. The rich material helped the scholar to thoroughly cover the question of the origin of the apocrypha, their distribution, meaning, linguistic features, and others. I. Franko also devoted special investigations to the Apocrypha: "On the History of Apocryphal Tales" "On the History of South Russian Apocryphal Tales". The history of apocryphal stories and legends is considered by the scientist on a broad background, in comparative and typological terms. Along with Ukrainian material, he also uses material from other Slavic and non-Slavic peoples of the West and East. This makes his studies not a detached, but an integral part of the spiritual phenomenon life of many peoples and their literary ideas. I. Franko also paid a lot of attention to the monuments of fiction – Easter dramas, interludes, poetry, songs. The great stonemason has the primacy in the publication of such ancient monuments as the Easter drama "Spiritual Banquet" of the interlude "Conversation of a Ruthenian with a Pole" "Conversation of a Jew with a Ruthenian" poems "Conversation of a Mazurian with a Ruthenian "" Song of Adam "" Song of my head "" Happy fortune, where did it go "" Song of Saul kings and David "song about St. Michael, four songs from the Kalush singer of the XVIII century, a few – from Transcarpathia. Also noteworthy are publications and detailed historical and literary analysis of such monuments as "Song of Stephen the Voivode" "Song of the Cossack Plakhta" Easter drama "A Word about the Perversion of Hell" "The Mystery of the Passions of Christ". I. Franko devoted special explorations "New materials for the history of the Ukrainian nativity scene" and "To the history of the Ukrainian nativity scene of the XVIII century" to the study of monuments of dramatic art in Ukraine, in particular interludes. I. Franko showed great interest in the monuments of chronicle and polemical literature. The Chronicle of the Pidhirtsi Monastery published by him, excerpts from I. Vyshensky’s Book, and Secular Politics form a solid basis for studying many questions of the history of the Ukrainian language. Publishing these monuments, I. Franko conducted extensive research: set the date and place of writing the monument, determined its role in the cultural life of the people, analyzed the language features, compared published versions of the monument, pointed out mistakes in publications, argued with researchers on the interpretation of individual words, etc.
