Borys Grinchenko: poet, lyrical subject, and epoch

Abstract

The focus of the paper is on the complicated process of including Borys Grinchenko’s poetic heritage in the cultural history of the Ukrainian people as a nation. Attention is drawn to the erroneous statements in the studies of the 1930s to 1950s and the restoration of a fair assessment later. The paper traces the evolution of Borys Grinchenko’s poetry based on the analysis of particular details in his works and materials of discussion on the recognition of the literary value of his “poetic word”. The texts of his works are analysed as the case study the 1903 lifetime edition “Writings. Volume 1”, which was wrongly underestimated at the time.The innovative tendencies of his poetic thinking can be traced from the beginning of his literary activity to the last years of his life. Attention is drawn to the genres, themes, figurative language, and stylistic features of Grinchenko’s poetry in their evolutionary development (the 1880s through the 1900s). Particularly noteworthy is the rhythmic and melodic structure of the author’s poetry and its gradual changes. His works may be associated with such stylistic systems of Ukrainian poetry as Enlightenment romanticism, neo-romanticism, and symbolism. The edition of Borys Grinchenko’s poetry “Writings. Volume 1”, highly appreciated by Lesia Ukrainka at the time, may serve a code for understanding the peculiarities of his creative style as a poet. In addition to the epic mastery that distinguished the writer, his poetry demonstrated the expressive lyricism of the “poetic word”. One of the peculiarities of Grinchenko’s poetic pieces was cyclization, especially evident in the collection “Minutes”, which was included in the mentioned edition. In the author’s lyrical and confessional preface, he clearly outlines the image of the lyrical hero of his works. The lyrical character and his individual existence are extremely important for Grinchenko as the poet. The final part of the paper formulates the fundamental values of Borys Grinchenko’s life credo. His poetry has been and continues to be a significant and valuable cultural phenomenon, contributing effectively to the establishment of Ukraine as a nation.