У статті окреслено сутність прози Івана Франка як психобуттєвого та соціокультурного
феномена, що витворювався впродовж тривалого часу шляхом взаємодії багатьох чинників
духовного життя письменника: невтомною працьовитістю, прагненням бути високоосвіченою
людиною й своєю діяльністю охопити якомога ширше коло людських інтересів, постійним
відточуванням літературного смаку тощо. Здійснено також періодизацію Франкової прози.
The paper describes the essence of I. Franko’s prose as a psycho-onthological and socio-cultural
phenomenon, that took a long time to be created and appeared due to many factors of the writer’s
spiritual life: the tireless hard work, the desire to be a highly educated person and reach the broadest
possible range of human interests in his activity, constant refinement of literary taste, etc. In the realm
of prose the writer worked for over 40 years (which is symbolical!), starting from the 1871/1872 school
year, when he wrote school tasks for the teachers of literature, till 1913. During this time the writer
wrote 10 novels and tales and about half a hundred works of short prose (stories of different kinds,
essays, fairy tales, etc.). Thus, Franko perceived his writing as a manifestation of the internal need
of labor, which could enable a wide range of people to get accustomed to intellectual work. In his
creative work Franko saw a clear goal, which he directed to the future, imagining it to be a soil which
would give a generous crop. Franko considered himself as a propaedeutic, who prepares the nation
for future cultural achievements. The roots of many Franko’s characters and prose forms should also
be sought in the early childhood of the writer, a son of a village blacksmith and poor noblewoman.
The greatest influence on his literary taste, as he himself admitted, had gymnasium teachers Ivan
Verchratskyi (biologist and litterateur), who supplied the young schoolboy with books from his own
library, and Julian Turchynskyi (writer and critic), but direct impetus to writing was given by the example
of gymnasium friends – Izydor Pasichynskyi and Dmytro Vintskovskyi.
The researcher also made an attempt to periodize Franko’s prose and singled out 3 periods of its
progress: ‘youthful romanticism’, scholarly and ‘ideal’ realism and the section of modernist searches.
