67. Creative activity of I.Franko

Franko, Ivan

Writer, scholar, political and civic leader, publicist; like Taras Shevchenko, one of Ukraine's greatest creative geniuses.

His first literary works—poetry (1874) and the novel Petriï i Dovbushchuky (1875)—were published in the students' magazine Druh,

During the first period of his creative work Franko wrote political poems, such as ‘Kameniari’ (The Stonecutters, 1878), ‘Vichnyi revoliutsioner’ (The Eternal Revolutionary, 1880), and ‘Ne pora ...’ (This Is Not the Time ..., 1880), which became patriotic anthems and influenced the outlook of a whole generation; the novels Boa constrictor (1878), Boryslav smiiet’sia (Boryslav Is Laughing, 1881), and Zakhar Berkut (1883); and a series of literary and journalistic articles.

In 1881 Franko co-published the monthly S’vit, and after its closing in 1882 he edited the journal Zoria (Lviv) and the newspaper Dilo (1883–5).

Franko was one of the first realists in Ukrainian literature and the most outstanding poet of the post-Shevchenko period.

Franko's prose works include over 100 short stories and dozens of novels

In drama Franko proved himself a master of the sociopsychological and historical play and of comedy. His first attempts in this area date back to his gymnasium days—Iuhurta (1873), Try kniazi na odyn prestol (Three Princes for One Throne, 1874), and others.

. His best plays are the sociopsychological drama Ukradene shchastia (Stolen Happiness, 1894) In general, Franko evolved in his thinking from radical to a progressive national democrat. The evolution of his views is reflected in his numerous journalistic articles.

68 Cultural activity of m.Drahomanov

Drahomanov, Mykhailo,

Scholar, civic leader, publicist, political thinker.

With Serhii Podolynsky and Mykhailo Pavlyk, who for some time joined him in Switzerland, Drahomanov formed the Geneva Circle, an embryo of Ukrainian socialism

Drahomanov also played a prominent role in the Russian émigré community; he edited Vol’noe slovo, the organ of the zemstvo liberals.

Drahomanov began his scholarly work as an ancient historian and wrote Vopros ob istoricheskom znachenii Rimskoi imperii i Tatsit

Later he worked in Slavic, especially Ukrainian, ethnography and folklore, using the historical-comparative method. Drahomanov applied folk oral literature to his study of the history of social ideas in Ukraine. His principal works are Istoricheskie pesni malorusskogo naroda

Malorusskie narodnye predaniia i rasskazy (Little Russian Folk Legends and Tales, 1876); Novi ukraïns’ki pisni pro hromads’ki spravy (Recent Ukrainian Songs on Social Topics, 1881); and Politychni pisni ukraïns’koho narodu 18–19 st.

Drahomanov was an outstanding Ukrainian political thinker.

69. Modernism in Europe (boundary of the 19^th and 20^th centuries): general characteristics

Modernism. An international movement in literature and art that emphasized the sense of a radical break with the past and the possibility of a transformed world. Emerging at the end of the nineteenth century as a rejection of realism and populism, it experimented with new literary and artistic forms, often under the influence of photography, film, and new technologies. Non-traditional materials were often used in architecture and sculpture, such as new metal alloys, glass, and synthetic plastics. The focus in literature and art was often on subjective perceptions and on the inner psychological conflicts and complexes of the urban intelligentsia. Depictions of individual personalities often included the eccentric, the taboo, and the deranged. Modernism coincided with and reflected the rapid growth of capitalist production and the rise of strong feminist, political, and national movements.

Central and East European modernism in the years 1880–1913 is often viewed as encompassing the “isms”: impressionism, symbolism, cubism, abstractionism, futurism, and expressionism. A second wave of modernism appeared in the years 1914–30, which was strongly influenced by radical political movements in Europe and sometimes identified itself as the cultural avant-garde of these movements. It was closely associated with the futurists, constructivists, expressionists, and surrealists of the post-First World War years.