Theatre Criticism in the 1920s Ukrainian Newspapers

Abstract

The paper provides an outline of the 1920s Ukrainian newspapers that consistently covered theatre life, lists and characterizes their leading contributors, and analyzes a number of illustrative drama reviews. The basis for systematization and comparative analysis of the 1920s theatre journalism constituted the general scientific research methods based on empirical, descriptive principles of source studies. The method of biographical research is an attempt to recreate the biographical facts of certain critics, the formation of their aesthetic landmarks, and trace the features of their individual writing style. Developments in the field of the theory of literary and critical genres were used in the analysis and classification of reports by these theater critics. The paper addresses a genre of brief reports in the 1920s Ukrainian newspapers, as well as more detailed reviews. A quantitative increase in the number of articles on theater, their diversity, and cultural scope was noted. An attempt was made to follow the transformation of critical thought in the 1920s newspapers exemplified by the critics of different generations and aesthetic orientations.