A retrospection in the poem “Doroshenko” by I. Kalynets

Abstract

In the poem “Doroshenko”, Iryna Kalynets actualises both the issue of the struggle for territorial unity and the disclosure of the problems of social inequality as one of the sources of disagreement between people. The article considers the historical events of Ruina and the image of Petro Doroshenko as interpreted by the Ukrainian poetess Iryna Kalynets. The analysis of the author’s interpretation of the historical personality from the historical and family points of view was carried out. Ity could be argued that the historical events of the 17th century resonate with events of our time. The purpose of the study is to analyse the author’s ways of displaying retrospective elements in the poem “Doroshenko” by Iryna Kalynets. The structure of the retrospective category and its organisation in the poem are analysed. To achieve the goal of the research, the following methods of literary analysis were applied: biographical, contextual, historical and ethnographic. An attempt was made to single out the variations in the meaning of the term-concept “retrospection”. It is indicated that when using retrospection, a purposeful and weighted selection of historical episodes takes place. Retrospective episodes receive an additional semantic and emotional load, they are presented artistically processed by the imagination of the poetess. Retrospection in the poem “Doroshenko” by Iryna Kalynets can be characterized as suggestive, as it is based on associations, additional semantic and intonation shades, hints, vagueness. The article notes one of the stages of the poem’s existence. The poem was presented to Vasyl Stus for his birthday. In response, the author received “feedback” — comments on a separate section. It is noted that a characteristic feature of the presentation of the image of Hetman Doroshenko is the absence of portrait details. Instead, emotions, actions, toponymy, and historical background are important. I. Kalynets is worried about the problem of betrayal (at the household and state levels). The poet is interested in the issue of social inequality. The article emphasizes the methods of modeling the image of a Cossack elder. Research attention is also focused on the lack of clarity in the presentation of Cossacks. The functioning of lexemes denoting the concept of “denunciation” is analyzed. An attempt is made to interpret Christmas attributes.