Авторка статті розглядає, як вплинула поезія Шевченка на національну ідентичність двох
чільних представників громадівського руху в Україні – правобережця В. Антоновича й лівобережця
М. Лисенка. Вона стверджує, що “Кобзар”– це книжка, що формувала українську політичну
ідентичність. Під її впливом відбувалася деполонізація правобережної української інтелігенції й
дерусифікація лівобережної. Поезія Шевченка була як головним елементом освітньої програми
народництва, так і наріжним каменем народницької ідеології.
This paper outlines the portrait of Shevchenko’s reader from the Dnieper Ukraine in the first half of
the 19th century based on the example of two prominent figures of Kyiv (Old) “Hromada” Volodymyr
Antonovych and Mykola Lysenko. The first one represented the intellectuals from the Right Bank
Ukraine, the second one ‒ from the Left Bank part. Under the infl uence of the Ukrainian national
renaissance Volodymyr Antonovych became de-Polonized. He was the first political Ukrainian who
understood the significance of Shevchenko’s poetry for the formation of Ukrainian national identity
(this is evidenced by his memoirs and promoting Shevchenko’s works). According to M. Starytskyi,
Mykola Lysenko perceived “Kobzar” passionately. Not only did he become de-Russificated under the
infl uence of Shevchenko’s poetry, but also made the music to “Kobzar” a matter of his life.
The author of the paper emphasizes that Shevchenko’s works urged the intellectuals from the Right
and Left Bank Ukraine, disconnected after the Truce of Andrusovo, to unite in “Hromada” movement.
At the same time the Left Bank intellectuals dominated in “Hromada”. On the researcher’s opinion,
this fact may be explained by the high level of education in the Cossak Hetmanate Ukraine. “Kobzar”
was a cornerstone for the educational program of Ukrainian ‘narodnyks’ and this whole intellectual
movement was based on it. Shevchenko’s works essentially contributed to spreading the Ukrainian
idea in Galicia.
There is an opinion, that it was the Galician people who separated the Ukrainian national identity
from Russian, while in the Left Bank Ukraine both of these identities coexisted. The author of the
paper believes that the intellectuals in both parts of Ukraine in 1860s-1870s had an indistinct national
identity. Unlike the Galicians the intellectuals from Ukraine under Russian rule, in particular Volodymyr
Antonovych, could not speak openly about Ukrainian self-sufficiency. However Shevchenko (born in
the Right Bank Ukraine) was first among Ukrainian intellectuals to voice a thesis about the separation
of Ukrainians from Russians, about the distinctive Ukrainian history, language and literature that differ
from the Russian ones.
