Сучасні проєкції української теми у творчості О. Купріна

Abstract

The article under consideration actualizes the peculiarities of the reception of Ukraine in the works by O. Kuprin. The writer's extended stay in Ukraine contributed to his active appeal to the Ukrainian theme. The last ones cover a significant part of his creative heritage and reveal it in different ways. Surprisingly, the subject of his works geographically affects all parts of our state: Donbas, central Ukraine, and Polissya. The author's works present and degraded Kyiv characters (collections „Kyiv Types” (1895) and „Miniatures” (1897)), and ruthlessly exploited miners of Donbas (essays „Rolling Mill” and „Yuzovsky Plant” (1896), the novel „Molokh” (1896)), and the inhabitants of Polissya („Olesya” (1898)). The publication emphasizes the urgency of the problems raised by O. Kuprin in the last century for the current situation in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. The issues raised in the story „Molokh” are also surprising in their topicality. The reception of the nature of Polissya and the author's reflections on its inhabitants also have current projections. The article presents a modern interpretation of O. Kuprin's novel „Olesya”. Emphasis is placed on the symbolism of the relationship between a Ukrainian girl and a young Russian writer, which ended with the latter's betrayal.