“RISE UP, UKRAINE! A LIGHT OF TRUTH WILL SHINE, AND SLAVE CHILDREN WILL PRAY IN FREEDOM”: THE EMBROIDERED FOLKLORIZED WORKS BY TARAS SHEVCHENKO

Abstract

The article is devoted to the phenomenon of embroidering the folklorized poetic works by Taras Shevchenko on the towels (rushnyky), many of which belong to the patriotic inscriptions (for the most part, Western Ukraine, the 1930s). These folklorized lines could be in a variety of contaminations. Embroideresses often combined between two and four different works, therefore creating an absolutely new text. Particularly, I demonstrate rushnyky with the embroidered verbal formula “Rise up, Ukraine! A light of truth will shine, and slave children will pray in freedom” (the prototext is the mystery “Big Cellar”) which in different cases is combined with other verbal formulas (which are also folklorized works by Kobzar): for example, “Love each other, my brothers, love Ukraine, and pray to God for our unfortunate country” (the prototext is the poetry “Remember, My Brothers” from the cycle “In the Casemate” by Taras Shevchenko) or “Love your Ukraine. Love her… in the difficult time, in the last worst moment pray to God for her” (the prototext is the 12th poetry “Will We Get Together Again?” from the cycle “In the Casemate” by Taras Shevchenko). The concrete cases (on the example of the poetry “My Testament” by T. Shevchenko) where a political content is closely intertwined with a private sphere and glorification of the poet have been also analyzed. It is shown that at the beginning of the 21st century there was re-actualization of the epigraphic embroidery samples which had been embroidered at the first half of the 20th century. Such cases can be well traced on social networks, when, during revolutionary events, photographs of epigraphic towels are published, in particular with embroidered lines which are folklorized works by Taras Shevchenko. A case of double re-actualization of the same sample of epigraphic embroidery was also recorded (the rushnyk with the verbal formulas “Arise, Ukraine! pray to the Lord for her “Rise up, Ukraine! A light of truth will shine, and slave children will pray in freedom” and “Love your Ukraine. Love her… in the difficult time, in the last worst moment pray to God for her”) with a time interval of nine years (during the Orange Revolution and the Revolution of Dignity).