Mykola Kostomarov’s historiosophical views on Ukrainian history: formation and evolution

Abstract

The aim of the article is to study the formation and further evolution of Mykola Kostomarov’s historiosophical views on Ukrainian history, to determine the essence of his historiosophical concept. Research methods are historiosophical analysis and synthesis. Sources of the article: autobiographical, scientific, journalistic, polemical and historical works of M. I. Kostomarov, archival materials, the latest works of modern historians. The main results: the author analyzes the historiosophical heritage of the thinker from the first half of the 1840s to the mid of the 1880s. The article proves that in the second dissertation M. I. Kostomarov approved his credo as a historian of the romantic and patriotic trend, put the past of the people in the context of their linguistic and cultural heritage, their consciousness, spiritual, historical and social life. It is emphasized that romantic and patriotic ideas led the intellectual to comprehending the national character and the national ideal and to understanding the national idea as a core in the historical process. It is shown that in the mid-1840s Kostomarov’s historiosophical views were based on the ideas of Ukrainian patriotism, historical romanticism, Christocentrism, utopian socialism, messianism, republicanism, Cossack and Slavic love. During the period of activity of the Cyril and Methodius Society, the thinker went beyond national culture and joined the socio-political issues. M. I. Kostomarov was aware of the past and present of the Ukrainian people through the prism of democracy and freedom, and he represented the future of Ukraine in the democratic federation of sovereign Slavic peoples. After the defeat of the Cyril and Methodius Society, his arrest, imprisonment and exile, the scholar continued to assert the Ukrainian national principle in history, which he opposed to autocratic despotism. In the early 1860s the thinker outlined the concept of the Rus people, which was embodied in two nationalities. This was the evidence of double loyalty phenomenon and identity in his self-consciousness. At the same time, he did not think about the present and historical future of Ukraine outside the empire, although he advocated the preservation of Ukrainian ethnocultural identity, emphasizing the manifestations of the federalist principle in the past. With the rise of Russification and conservative-protective tendencies in the domestic policy of the tsarist regime, he was forced to make significant concessions, speaking of the necessity for “close merging and interaction” of the Ukrainian and Russian nationalities. However, the Ukrainian figure did not betray the idea of national and cultural revival of Ukrainians. Brief conclusions. In essence, Kostomarov’s historiosophical conception represented a synthesis of the ideas of historical romanticism, Ukrainian patriotism, and Christian values, and it was patriotic, federalist, dualistic in the sense of national consciousness and identity. However, it contributed to the ideological separation of the Ukrainian historical process from the Polish and Russian ones in time and space. The practical significance of the article: it can be of interest to historians, young scientists and students in the process of studying Ukrainian historiosophy. The originality of the article is in understanding the insufficiently studied aspects of the intellectual heritage of M. I. Kostomarov. Scientific novelty: the original interpretation of the formation and evolution of historiosophical ideas of M. I. Kostomarov. Article type: analytical.