Polish Studies of Kyiv: works of International scientific conference, Kyiv, 23-25 of May, 2018. / chief editor R. Radyshevskyi. – vol. XXXV. – Kyiv: Talkom, 2019. – P. 267-271.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17721/psk.2019.35.267-271

Novak S.

IMAGE OF THE UKRAINIAN EMIGRANT IN THE SMALL PROSE OF VOLODYMYR BIRCHAK

Abstract. The article analyzes the peculiarities of the formation of V. Birchak a collective image of a nationally conscious Ukrainian-emigrant, endowed with many virtues and disadvantages, forced to overcome the challenges of the emigrant fate. Considered the writer’s understanding of the events of the life of Ukrainian emigration after the defeat of the national liberation struggles of 1918 – 1920, in which the prose writer also participated directly, because of which he also lived and worked on emigration.

Volodymyr Birchak (1881– 1952) is one of the founders of the Lviv Modernist literary group Young Muse (1906 – 1014), a Galician, a writer-pedagogue who directly participated in the national liberation struggle of Ukrainians from 1918 to 1920, and after the defeat was forced was to emigrate to Transcarpathia, which then belonged to Czechoslovakia. The writer’s close and understandable were the experiences and wandering of Ukrainian emigrants who sought salvation from the Moscow invasion beyond their native land without livelihood, without the possibility of obtaining citizenship, finding a job, adapting to life without the glow of enemy bullets.

The article deals with the collection of stories “The Golden Violin” (1937) and the story “The Emigrant” (1941), which was not included in the collections. The composite-organizing components of many of these stories are trials that fell to the fate of the heroes. The motive of the road, present in the small prose of V. Birchak of the 20’s and 40’s of the twentieth century, is a motive of emigrant hardships, searching for himself in a new, non-hostile world.

All the prose works of V. Birchak confirm his views on the important role in the history of the state creation of each strong person, and not the crowd. The author in many of his stories skillfully depicts the customization of emigre heroes under the inadequate claims that seem to be invented deliberately to mock exiles from Ukraine: as a rule, educated, intelligent, educated, patient in the experience of difficulties, able to adapt and continuously teach something new , responsible and decent in the relationship with the environment. They do not have excessive pride, do not show self-defeatism, do not declare their exclusiveness, as former fighters for the freedom of Ukraine. They also do not squeal, but engage in everyday work to survive until the time comes again to take up arms and win. Survive in difficulty, poverty, humiliation of their dignity helps optimism.

Key words: artistic analysis, Ukrainian emigrant, small prose, psychology, road motive, state creation.

Information about author: Novak Snizhana, Candidate of Philological Sciences, Associate Professor at the Department of Ukrainian Literature and Theory of Literature, Drohobych Ivan Franko State Pedagogical University.