УТВЕРДЖЕННЯ УКРАЇНСТВА ЯК НАРОДУ ІЗ САМОСТІЙНОЮ КУЛЬТУРОЮ В ДОСЛІДЖЕННЯХ І. ОГІЄНКА ТА ПОВІСТЯХ Г. КВІТКИ-ОСНОВ’ЯНЕНКА

Abstract

This article examines the cultural work of I. Ohiienko, titled «Ukrainian culture: A brief history of the cultural life of the ukrainian people», from the perspective of its presentation of the idea of affi rming Ukrainian identity as a nation with an independ-ent culture. The study sheds light on the cultural activities of the scholar, portraying them as having predecessors in the form of Ukrainian enlighteners of the 19th century. Specifi cally, it explores the enlightening ideas of H. Kvitka-Osnovianenko and their transformation in the public and scientifi c activities of I. Ohiienko.By comparing the enlightening activities of I. Ohiienko in the fi rst decade of the 20th century with the mission of Ukrainian enlighteners from the early 19th century, we discern many commonalities in these activities. Evaluating the same phenomenon from the perspectives of diff erent eras provides a background for understanding not only the past in the history of our people’s culture but also the contemporary state of our culture.The research concludes with key positions of the enlightening discourse in the works of H. Kvitka-Osnovianenko: recognition of the rights of the Ukrainian people to independent life apart from the empire; a high level of education among Ukrainians; faith in God; natural behaviour; and alignment with the cause one engages in. At the beginning of the 20th century, these ideas transformed into the cultural-historical par-adigm of I. Ohiienko, which asserts that the Ukrainian people, possessing an ancient, original, and independent culture that places them among European nations, should have forms of statehood independent of the empire.In the early 21st century, during the widespread intrusion of Moscow into Ukraine, we understand the validity of I. Ohiienko’s warnings, comprehending his persistent defence of the doctrine of the uniqueness of Ukrainian culture and its self-suffi ciency. A crucial task for domestic researchers is to restore the cultural-historical continu-ity of the idea of Ukrainian statehood, tracing its origins and development up to the present day against the backdrop of an aggressor country that, for centuries, has not recognized Ukraine’s rights and possibilities for its own political and cultural course. Scientifi c developments in this direction represent the prospects of this research