«THE FARM ANIMALS’ REVOLT. LITTLE RUSSIAN LANDLORD’S LETTER TO HIS ST. PETERSBURG’S FRIEND» BY M.KOSTOMAROV AS LITERARY MYSTIFICATION

Keywords: Ukrainian romantic tradition,, literary game,, «The Farm Animals’ Revolt. Little Russian Landlord’s Letter to his St. Petersburg’s Friend».

Abstract

In the article, it is referred to mystification as a type of literary game in Ukrainian romantic tradition.

The author mentions that Ukrainian Romantic Period is marked with the emergence of a great number of writerly mystifications, pseudonyms, masks
and codes. The artists-romanticists’ game behavior also brought about a special attitude to the letter, which was often used for purposes other than intended. Therefore, while at first sight it was an unremarkable, «marginal» form, it often contained significant ideas. Game views on the world, peculiar
to Romantic Period, also marked romantic epistolary works and it manifested in the emergence of the original letters-mystifications, whose authors presented themselves to the public wearing masks and often declaring spiteful and even inappropriate ideas.

The author points out that it was the game that opened the way to the distancing from the imperfect world. The game behavior made it possible to
save yourself in the conditions of strict censorship and continuous political punitive measures. M. Kostomarov’s essay «The Farm Animals’ Revolt. Little Russian Landlord’s Letter to his St. Petersburg’s Friend» is analysed in the scope of the literary game theory.

The author proves that this mystification played a conspiratorial role. M.Kostomarov realized that his phantasmagoria was critical and disrupting.
That is why he referred to its author as I.Bohucharov (this was one of M.Kostomarov’s pseudonyms). In the paper, it is mentioned that in the essay
the author presented severe criticism of the nihilistic, authoritarian and inhuman tendencies of the Russian revolutionary movement taking place in
1870s. Using the allegorical images of social «animals», the author showed an inevitable degradation of those days’ revolutionary practice and government administration, because they ignored mental, ethical and humanistic rules of people’s life.

Author Biography

Oksana Svyrydenko, «SHEI Pereiaslav-Khmelnytskyi Hryhorii Skovoroda State Pedagogical University»

Ph. D. in Philology, Assistant Professor,
Assistant Professor at the Chair for Ukrainian and Foreign Literature and
Methodology
«SHEI Pereiaslav-Khmelnytskyi Hryhorii Skovoroda
State Pedagogical University»

References

1. Hrabovych H. U poshukakh velykoi literatury. Kyiv: Instytut arkheohrafii AN Ukrainy, 1993. 55 s. (ukr).
2. Hromiak R., Kovaliv Yu. Literaturoznavchyi slovnyk-dovidnyk. Kyiv: Akademiia, 1997. 752 s. (ukr).
3. Zabuzhko O. Shevchenkiv mif Ukrainy. Kyiv: Fakt, 2006. 144 s. (ukr).
4. Kant I. Sobranie sochineniy v shesti tomah. Moskva: Myisl, 1966. 564 s. (rus).
5. Kostomarov N. – Hattsuku A. [hruden 1880 r., m. S.-Peterburh]. Instytut rukopysu Natsionalnoi biblioteky Ukrainy im. V.I.Vernadskoho. F.22. Spr.33. Ark.1 (ukr).
6. Kostomarov N. – Hattsuku A. (1 yanvaria 1881 h.). IR NBUV. F.22. Spr.21. Ark.1. (ukr).
7. Kostomarov N. Skotskoy bunt. Pismo malorossiyskogo pomeschika k svoemu peterburgskomu priyatelyu (Do 200-rIchchya vId dnya narodzhennya M.I.Kostomarova ta 100-lIttya pershoYi publIkatsIYi «Skotskogo bunta») (vstupna stattya O. Yasya). UkraYins kiy Istorichniy zhurnal. 2017. № 1. S.157-182. (rus).
8. Naienko M. Intym pysmennytskoi pratsi. Kyiv: Prosvita, 2013. 735 s. (ukr).
9. Polishchuk Ya. Avtorstvo i hra. Synopsys: tekst, kontekst, media. 2013. №2. Rezhym dostupu: http://nbuv.gov.ua/UJRN/stkm_2013_2_5 (ukr).
10. Romanenko O. Khudozhnia interpretatsiia pinkertonivskykh motyviv u literaturnykh mistyfikatsiiakh Maika Yohansena. Sotsiosfera. 2014. № 1. S. 51–56 (ukr).
11. Shalahinov B. Romantychnyi slovnyk: do istorii poniat i terminiv rannoho nimetskoho romantyzmu. Kyiv: Vydavnytstvo NaUKMA, 2010. 136 s. (ukr).
12. Shevchenko T. Zibrannia tvoriv: U 6 t. K.: Naukova dumka, 2003. T.6. 632 s. (ukr).
13. Shiller F. Sobranie pochineniy v 7 tomah. Moskva: Gosudarstvennoe izdatelstvo hudozhestvennoy literaturyi, 1957. Tom 6. 793 s. (rus).
14. Shkarluta T. Mistyfikatsiia «Porfyrii Horotak» v emihratsiinomu literaturnomu protsesi 1940-kh rokiv: Dysertatsiia na zdobuttia naukovoho stupenia kandydata filolohichnykh nauk. Kyiv, 2016. 204 s. (ukr).
Published
2019-01-31
How to Cite
Svyrydenko, O. (2019). «THE FARM ANIMALS’ REVOLT. LITTLE RUSSIAN LANDLORD’S LETTER TO HIS ST. PETERSBURG’S FRIEND» BY M.KOSTOMAROV AS LITERARY MYSTIFICATION. Theoretical and Didactic Philology, (29), 82-93. Retrieved from https://tdp-journal.com/index.php/journal/article/view/133