AESTHETIC AND PHILOSOPHICAL SEARCHES OF STANISLAV SHUMYTSKYI'S WORK IN THE CULTURAL-HISTORICAL PROCESS OF THE 60S OF THE 20TH CENTURY
Abstract: The purpose of the article is to study the creative development, the aesthetic and the philosophical searches of Stanislav Shumytskyi’s work within the cultural and historical process of the 60s of the 20th century. The basis of the methodological approach in this research work is a complex systematic study, which is based on a qualitative combination of theoretical research methods. In particular, analysis, synthesis, generalization, interpretation, abstraction, as well as descriptive, comparative, juxtaposition method, comparative-historical method, intertextual method, in particular its intermedial principles, were applied for a detailed consideration of Stanislav Shumytskyi’s work. This research highlights Stanislav Shumytskyi's unique aesthetic and philosophical pursuits in the 1960s cultural-historical milieu. Emphasis is laid on relevance of Shumytskyi's creative legacy for contemporary literature. The study enriches understanding of the cultural climate in the period, especially regarding the Ukrainian Sixtiers movement.
Keywords: Sixties. Literary process. Philosophicalness. Aestheticism. Literary revival.
INTRODUCTION
In the literary process of the 20th century, two generations of artists, called the twenties and the sixties, took an active part. They desperately struggled with the problems of conservatism of formal realism. Their creative searches accumulated new methods in order to form their own worldview and develop a unique human microcosm. It was an era of great spiritual searches, upheavals, rethinking, as well as unrestrained renewal of various branches of art. The twenties of the 20th century are a generation of writers and poets who were active in the 1920s. This period was a time of great experimentation in literature, including the formation of new literary schools and movements that reflected the radical social and political changes of the time. The sixties were a young generation of artists of the 60s of the 20th century, which was formed during the so-called “thaw” of the Soviet regime, incomplete rehabilitation of several representatives of the “Executed Renaissance” and condemnation of Stalinism (Issakova et al., 2021; Pelepeychenko et al., 2021). The “Executed Renaissance” is a term that refers to a period of cultural and intellectual blossoming in the Ukrainian SSR in the 1920s and early 1930s, which ended in widespread repression and executions during Stalin's Great Purge in the late 1930s. This term was coined by Yuriy Lavrinenko, a Ukrainian emigre critic, in his anthology of the same name, published in 1959 in Paris. It symbolizes the revival and subsequent suppression of the Ukrainian national culture. During the “Executed Renaissance”, many Ukrainian writers, artists and intellectuals produced significant works that reflected the national identity and expressed innovative and often radical ideas (Doszhan, 2023). However, as Stalin consolidated his power, these figures were increasingly seen as a threat. Many were arrested, executed or died in prison. The “Thaw” period, which came after Stalin's death in the mid-1950s, saw a reevaluation of the cultural policies of the previous decades. This period was characterized by a relaxation in the repressive policies of Joseph Stalin's era and a relative liberalization of the political climate (Zavyalova; Stakhevych, 2022). This era was marked by an increase in freedom of speech, art and literature. It also saw many political prisoners’ release from the Gulag labor camps and attempts at legal reform. Some banned literature began to circulate again, and filmmakers started exploring subjects that were previously considered taboo. However, a full acknowledgment and comprehensive examination of the “Executed Renaissance” and the atrocities committed during Stalin's Great Purge took place only during the perestroika period in the late 1980s and the years following the dissolution of the USSR. At first, the movement of the sixties arose as a cultural movement. Later, it turned into an opposition to the power structures and acquired national importance (Lutsa, 2021).
Stanislav Vasyliovych Shumytskyi (1937-1974) is a Kharkiv poet and journalist, considered one of the little-studied and almost unknown representatives of Ukrainian literature of the 60s of the 20th century. His life path was quite short, only 37 years. During such a short life, he managed to publish three books: Signs of Loyalty (1963), Forty Heartbeats (1966), Heroes come in song (1971). Shumytskyi also prepared, but did not have time to print, a collection that contained 43 new poems and was entitled Autumn Opens the Horizon. He belonged to that cohort of writers who are not satisfied with only one single genre or type of creativity, but belong to cultural figures in the broadest sense of the word. Despite his short life, Stanislav Vasyliovych managed to say the important and secret things in his works, which even today prompts reflection and leaves no one indifferent. However, a significant part of the artist's creative heritage is currently unknown. His works are unfamiliar to modern readers, although they organically complement the general picture of Ukrainian poetic 60s of the 20th century. In this regard, the main goal of this study is to consider the creative development and aesthetic and philosophical searches of Stanislav Shumytskyi’s work within the cultural and historical process of the 60s of the 20th century (Kryvenchuk, 2019).
The analysis of the scientific literature on the outlined issues proved the absence of thorough scientific investigations related to S. Shumytski’s personality or creativity. Modern researchers, including L. B. Tarnashynska (2013, 2019), V. F. Korzh (2000), N. P. Anisimova (2015), O. G. Astafyev (2018), M. V. Lutsa (2021) and Y. P. Seko (2021) consider, mainly, the process of the development of sixties, the specifics and means of creating an artistic image of the 60s of the XX century, as well as prominent representatives of this era, by passing S. Shumytskyi’s figure. For example, Y. P. Seko (2021), in the article “Cultural associations of the 1960s in the context of the sixties movement”, analyzes the activities of youth cultural associations of the 1960s and shows their role in the formation of Ukrainian national consciousness. The researcher determines that, within various such associations, there was a rallying of people around common cultural values Hence, the versatility of interests and encyclopedic knowledge that distinguishes representatives of this generation from others. M. V. Lutsa (2021), in the publication Ukrainian sixties, analyzes the peculiarities of the formation of the sixties and the development of Ukrainian sixties, as well as she elucidates the specifics and means of creating an artistic image of the 60s of the 20th century.
Regarding the study of S. Shumytskyi’s creativity and personality, the scientific literature contains reviews by H. Gelfandbein, O. Goldes, Y. I. Stadnychenko, V. I. Borovoy, O. Dnistrovoy, O. Cherevchenko and P. V. Gubsky; scientific publications by V. Omelchenko (2013), O. Oliinyk (2006), I. M. Lysenko (2002), V. M. Kryvenchuk (2019, 2022) and L.V. Kucheryava (2016). V. M. Kryvenchuk (2019) dedicated the monograph Creativity of Stanislav Shumytskyi in the context of the Ukrainian sixties to S. Shumytskyi. In the monograph, for the first time within the framework of Ukrainian literary studies, it has carried out a full-scale study about S. Shumytkskyi’s life and work, considering him as the representative of the sixties, highlighting the uniqueness of his lyrical originality and the significance of his poetry within the literary process of the 20th-21st centuries. L. V. Kucheryava (2016), in the article “In memory of the poet-compatriot Stanislav Shumytskyi”, cites facts from the poet's biography, outlines the range of themes and motives of his lyrics, and also analyzes the significance of S. Shumytskyi's creative heritage and emphasizes the urgent need for its in-depth study and perfect study.
Thus, the study about Stanislav Vasyliovych Shumytskyi is of significant importance due to his unique contributions to his field. The study brings fresh perspectives and is groundbreaking in its approach to analyzing and understanding his works. The novelty of study lies in its in-depth examination and interpretation of Shumytskyi's oeuvre, which will provide new insights and enhance understanding of his influence. By delving into unexplored aspects of his work and life, we aim to shed new light on his contributions and their relevance in contemporary discourse. The purpose of the article is to study the creative development and aesthetic and philosophical searches of Stanislav Shumytskyi’s work within the cultural and historical process of the 60s of the 20th century. To achieve this goal, the following objectives were formulated:
1. To study S. Shumytskyi’s life and creative biography in order to understand his contribution to the cultural and historical process of the 60s of the twentieth century.
2. To analyse the main aesthetic and philosophical concepts and searches that can be traced in S. Szumytsky’s work.
3. To evaluate the influence of the historical and cultural context of the 60s of the twentieth century on the formation of S. Shumytskyi's creative style and aesthetic and philosophical views.
4. To study and analyse the available scientific sources and works related to S. Shumytskyi’s life and work in order to obtain a complete picture of his creative development and search.
5. To determine the influence and significance of S. Szumycki's work for the contemporary literary process and cultural and historical context.
6. To formulate conclusions about the specifics of S. Szumytsky's aesthetic and philosophical searches in the context of the cultural and historical process of the 60s of the twentieth century.
1 MATERIALS AND METHODS
This study is dominated by the receptive concept of aestheticism as an estopsychological type of interpretation, the most characteristic feature of which is the multi-layered literary knowledge, as the most general value concepts that express the current characteristics of perception and experience. A comprehensive examination of the problems allows us to take into account the features of the philosophy, culture and aesthetics of the sixties, and the following are dominant: thinking, emotions, experience, will, self-awareness, intuition, worldview and self-regulation.
The basis of the methodological approach in this research work is a high-quality, complex and systematic combination of theoretical research methods. Thus, the descriptive method was used to collect, develop a primary analysis and present information about S. Shumytskyi’s personality and his creative activity. Comparative and comparative-historical methods were used to classify the features of the artist's poetic work. The comparison method was used to compare the lyrics of sixties poets and studies of sixties personalities by other scientists. With the help of methods of abstraction, generalization, synthesis and analysis, a detailed study and in-depth analysis of S. Shumytskyi’s work, an analysis of the aesthetic and philosophical searches of his work in the cultural and historical process of the 60s of the 20th century, and the determination of the importance of the poet's work for the modern Ukrainian literary process became possible.
In view of the diversity of the material involved in the research, its historical, cultural and literary heterogeneity, the methodology of structural analysis, the interpretive principle, elements of biographical, descriptive and mythological methods, as well as logical methods of the consciousness of a certain personality and induction analysis of a specific historical environment, were also applied, which helped to reveal the research topic as deeply as possible. The theoretical basis of this scientific research work consists of the results of the research carried out by modern Ukrainian scientists, which are aimed at considering a number of problematic issues related to the study of the phenomenon of the sixties, its features, specific features, the myth of the sixties, and the analysis of the creative activity of prominent representatives of the sixties, whose names entered history forever. In addition, the theoretical basis of this research work is S. Shumytskyi’s archival data and poetry collections, which reflect the aesthetic and philosophical searches of the poet's work. The presented research work was carried out in three main stages. The study used the biographical method and the microhistorical approach. The biographical method allowed us to study in depth Stanislav Shumytskyi’s life and work, his influence on the cultural and historical processes of the period. This gave us the opportunity to analyze in detail his aesthetic and philosophical searches and understand how they are reflected in his work. The microhistorical approach allowed us to focus on the study of small details of the time to consider Stanislav Shumytskyi’s life and work in the context of the microhistory. This made it possible to better understand the broader cultural and historical context in which Shumytskyi's work was formed and to identify new aspects of his aesthetic and philosophical searches.
At the first stage of scientific research, its theoretical base was prepared, which is later used as the main foundation for further scientific research. At this stage of scientific research, an analysis of S. Shumytskyi’s life and creative path was performed, the circumstances of his childhood, youth and adult life were revealed, which influenced his outlook, the formation of his aesthetic tastes and philosophical views. In addition, the main themes, motives and images of the poet's lyrics are analyzed.
At the second stage of the research work, an analytical study of S. Shumytskyi's poetry collections, such as Signs of loyalty, Forty Heartbeats and Heroes come in song and of some of his poems, considered from the point of view of their aesthetic and philosophical foundations, was performed (Shumytskyi, 2015, 2016, 2017). Also, at this stage of the scientific research, an analytical comparison of the obtained results with other scientists’ results and conclusions, who were engaged in the study of the sixties and their individual heritage within the cultural and historical process of the 60s of the XX century, was performed.
At the final stage of the research work, based on the philological analytical and synthetic results, the final conclusions of the scientific research were formulated. They represent the final reflection of these results and generally determine the main approaches to understanding the aesthetic and philosophical searches of S. Shumytskyi's work in the cultural-historical process of the 60s of the 20th century, as well as the contribution of this poet to the development of the Ukrainian literary process.
2 RESULTS
Stanislav Shumytskyi, being an influential figure in the Ukrainian literary sphere, might have played a significant role in this movement, possibly contributing through his poetry and literary works. His writings could have helped in shaping the ideological and aesthetic perspectives of the Sixtiers. However, for a more accurate and detailed understanding of his role, I would recommend referring to historical research, biographical works, or scholarly articles focusing on the period and Shumytskyi's life and work. S. Shumytskyi’s life and creative path are some of the least studied and known poets among the sixties ones. Despite the fact that the poet left behind a rather interesting journalistic, poetic and translation legacy, as well as essential values, without which, at this point in time, the idea of spiritual artistic search in the Ukrainian literary process would be inexhaustible, his work remains without modern researchers’ due attention. In view of this, in the context of this study, a decision was made to examine the aesthetic and philosophical searches of S. Shumytskyi’s work (2015, 2016, 2017) within the cultural and historical process of the 60s of the 20th century, by analyzing his creative work, in particular the works of three collections of the artist's poetic works: Signs of Loyalty, Forty Heartbeats and Heroes Come in Song.
It was revealed that, in the first collection Signs of loyalty, the main objects of the poet's image are people, work, love and friendship. The lyrical hero of this collection has numerous heroic traits, including ideological focus, purity of thoughts and nobility of actions. That is, S. Shumytskyi (2016) paints a person’s psychological portrait, draws attention to his sensual sphere and tells about his life destiny. In addition, in the poems of this collection, Stanislav Vasyliovych's own manner of creative style is clearly felt. But, at the same time, compliance with the normative requirements of the time is also noticeable. Moreover, in the collection Signs of Loyalty, the poet's desire to reproduce the subtlest shades of mood, the emergence of a new aesthetic quality and the existence of deep emotional experiences appeal to the sensual sphere of a lonely romantic hero. The poet refuses declarativeness and directs his intense thoughts to the evolution of human views, to finding the main thing in a person's life. His thoughts are full of concern for the fate of his contemporaries and their future. The most valuable feature of this collection of S. Shumytskyi’s poems is the violation of significant problems of human relationships, unrestrainedness, greatness and philosophy of new life.
The second collection of poems, Forty Heartbeats, as a result of the author's three-year poetic and philosophical work, impresses with its uncompromising and approving poetic narrative about loyalty to the native land and its high ideals. In comparison with the author's first collection, where the main features were light and pure sadness, delicate lyricism, direct expression of admiration and joy, the second collection presents a new feature of the poet's work, which consists in the artist's desire for brevity, philosophizing and clarity. In the poems of the second collection, there are exclusively the author’s personal experiences, mainly separation from his beloved, which makes him think about human suffering and the causes of this suffering, about the sources of wisdom of the human soul, about loyalty and betrayal, courage and cowardice (Shumytskyi, 2015).
The third collection Heroes come in song covers five years of the author’s hard work. Poems from the second and third collections of the poet, who was laureated in 1970, were presented for receiving the O. Zubarev prize. The poems of the third collection are devoted to glorifying the ordinary working people’s feats, for example, the ballad “The right highway” is dedicated to the driver of the “Zhovten” depot A. Kalchenko, who was awarded the Order of Lenin (the Order of Lenin was the highest award of the USSR, which was awarded for outstanding achievements and successes, special state and socio-political activities). The poetic essay “Light” is dedicated to the machinist V. Drokin, who is a Hero of Socialist Labor (the Hero of Socialist Labor is the highest degree of honor for work in agriculture, scientific discoveries, and other fields). Comparing this collection with the previous two ones, one can notice dryness, the presence of insufficiently understood facts, which contribute to the stereotyped depiction of images that lack individuality and become an obstacle to the disclosure of the heroes’ inner world. However, it is also worth emphasizing the S. Shumytskyi’s bold experiments (2017), who was a lyricist by his poetic nature, but decided to experiment in the collection Heroes come in song, He sought to fill the narrative artistic and journalistic genre of the essay with life facts and events about the hard work of his contemporaries with complex rhythmic pattern of verlibre, i.e. free verse. The lines of which had different lengths and different numbers of arbitrarily placed accents. Thus, S. Shumytskyi’s lyric essays are special. They have a specific lyrical framework and are distinguished by the technique of classical construction of poems.
Conventional division of S. Shumytskyi's (2015, 2016, 2017) poetic works into two main groups made it possible to move from analysis to generalizations. Lyrical works were included in the first group, including “Doves”, “Primroses”, “Autumn opens the horizons”, “Song”, “Lyubotyn”, “Find me”, “You are very similar to the first”, “I love spring”, “Extravagance”, “A Moment”, “Night Etude”, “Nightingale Song”, “Snow”, “My Autumn Swallow”, “At the End of August” and “The Road”. Common features of all these poems are a smooth singing sound and a measured simple narrative. The second group includes the poet's ethical-philosophical works, in particular, “Human Eyes Were Blinded by Darkness”, “Fantastic Ballad”, “Gold”, “Letter”, “Revenge”, “If”, “Salamander”, “Dog”, “Fantastic Ballad”, “Forty Heartbeats”, “Loyalty”, “Mailbox”, “My Rival”, “The Bounty of the Earth”, “The Christmas Tree Seller”, “Payback”, “Words”, “Mastery”, “Conversation”, “Drop”, “Two”, “Shadows of Unforgotten Ancestors”, “Poppies”, “Ballad of Waiting” and “If”. The second group of poems is characterized by the fact that the lyrical hero loves his native land very much and has a negative attitude towards vulgarity and meanness. In all the above-mentioned poems, the author, like his lyrical self, conducts ethical and philosophical reflections, and also defends certain aesthetic categories and moral-ethical ontological principles.
In order to highlight the aesthetic and philosophical searches of Stanislav Vasylovich Shumytskyi’s work, in the context of the cultural and historical process of the 60s of the 20th century, individual poems of the first and second groups were analyzed. Thus, in the poetry of “Snow”, S. Shumytskyi (2015) appears as a subtle lyricist. The main idea of the work is unbreakable faith in the all-conquering power of love. This poetry is expressionistic, the existence of the perception of the lyrical “I” is full of fantasy and romanticism is philosophical. The lines of the poem are filled with vivid changes in the personifications of the environment, for example, incredible transformations are observed at night, in particular, the moon, the foggy horizon, the stars are humanized, as well as the artist's noticeable desire to capture instant impressions and convey even the smallest shades of mood:
The stars fall on the table to me,
The wind poured into the apartment willingly,
I drink an infusion that is not occupied by anyone
A frosty January night
Outside, the moon pours honey.
Another poem by S. Shumytskyi (2015), “You”, is dedicated to love, where the leitmotif is true and eternal love, which never fades, and although the years pass quickly, the lyrical hero’s feelings remain the same:
You are very similar to the first one…
And yet you are not the one.
It can be noted that along with traditional themes in S. Shumytskyi’s work (2015), such as love, love for the native land, loyalty in love and friendship, nature, the poet also looks intently into the lyrical hero’s inner world. The poet is interested in the psychological motivation of his dreams and thoughts, actions and actions, as well as reflections on the meaning of human life. Often, the artist weighs various human values on the lyric scales and finds that the most important of them is the “gold of the soul”:
It is not divided into varieties,
They don't take it out of the chest at leisure…
I gave the best gifts,
What is not subject to sale and purchase.
S. Shumytskyi’s lyrical poetry “Two” impresses with the humanism of life creation and extraordinary humanity. The history of the creation of this poetry is quite interesting. In the late 1950s, E. Volgon worked as a typist in the newspaper Leninska Zmena and had to give birth to a child out of wedlock, but she did not have her own home. At that time, Stanislav Vasyliovych had just received an apartment, and seeing this woman’s suffering and difficult fate, he made a decision and gave his apartment to the woman. In her memoirs, E. Volgon wrote that S. Shumytskyi was a good friend, a very humane person and a talented improviser poet. He could not stand aside from other people's grief, and always tried to take an active position in life.
In general, it should be emphasized that the analysis of the poems of the first group showed that these poems are characterized by such features as deep sincerity, heightened emotionality and excitement. In the artist's experiences, an active change of mood is noticeable in accordance with the social and historical determinism of understanding the meaning of human existence. S. Shumytskyi’s heartfelt aestheticized experiences directed to the creation of a new spiritual reality, however, built in accordance with the primordial laws of ethical harmony and beauty. Lyrical poems of this group clearly embody the features of the artist's creative personality, which include: existential-ontological and changing lyricism, subtle research psychologism, courageous frankness and philosophizing, precision of expression and laconicism. In addition, the author’s spiritual cosmos becomes noticeable, which is a living and dynamic existence of knowledge and use of human creative capabilities. In addition, S. Shumytskyi’s deeply lyrical poetry is full of humanistic pathos.
After analyzing the second group of poems by S. Shumytskyi, it was found that these works were based on ethical-philosophical and philosophical-aesthetic principles that reflect the poet's artistic world, his artistic concepts, outlook, thoughts and experiences. Moreover, S. Shumytskyi’s “philosophy of the heart” and his great love for people are visible in the works of this group, which led to the manifestation in his poems of the search for the reason and origins of human courage, the understanding of man's desire for freedom and, at the same time, loyalty to high moral ideals. Most of the poems of this group are multi-problematic. They raise a number of important issues of humanism and morality, conditional-associative figurative thinking prevails in them, and the language is saturated with rhythmic and intonational innovations. S. Shumytskyi's ability to accurately sense the topicality and direct his thoughts to the solution of difficult moral, philosophical and aesthetic problems is clearly visible. The artist, filling the textual fabric with tense motifs of psychologism, in which a warning is well felt, casually forces the reader to think about the complex questions of eternity, which, in turn, prompts the reader to review ethical and aesthetic criteria, as well as rethink human values. The poet seems to strive with his works to help the reader establish eternal values.
In the poem “Two”, S. Shumytskyi seems to project an abandoned and outraged woman’s spoiled feeling into the old-world period of the formation of the world. A woman, who will soon be a mother, holds a lamp in her hands, which is a symbol of motherhood and the creation of a new life. The cradle is the “descendant of the recall”. It is in her that “childhood will begin”. For a lyrical hero, the main thing is not paper and seals, but firstly, responsibility for the family and mutual understanding. The key is the aphorism: “Both the end and the beginning lie on our conscience”. This poetry impresses with the humanism of creation and, with it, the spiritual suffering of the covering.
The situation described in the poem “If” is completely opposite. The very title of this poem hints at a lost opportunity to make life better, or at least it corrects a mistake. Only before his death, the young man regrets that he did not manage to leave behind a son who would “[…] preserve the father's name in his deeds”. However, it is not the death of the new moon that turns out to be the apogee of psychologism and the resolution of this dramatic situation, because it turns out that the offspring exists. It is born at the moment when the father passes into eternity. However, a woman deceived by a young man, who endured unbearable pain, gave birth to a son, refused to give the child his father's surname.
As the analysis of the second group of S. Shumytskyi's poems showed, the poet had broad ethical-philosophical and philosophical-aesthetic views. He possessed a human-centric ability to orientate himself on the undeniable spiritual value of ethical-aesthetic ideological orientations, adhered to the philosophy of cordocentrism etc. The psychology of the lyrical hero’s images of the poems directly depends on the motives of creativity. The closer and dearer the song is to the poet's heart, the more palpable the emotional tension becomes. The range of lyrics of this group is determined by the social conditions in which S. Shumytskyi lived, as well as those properties of social life that determined his most general visions and contributed to the development of his understanding of the world structure and the place of the individual in this world, which formed the entire set of his views, beliefs, principles and evaluations. Everything that pleased, excited or saddened the artist, certainly became the subject of his lyrical experience, and the way of thinking and the basis of the poet's activity were formed in the contradictory unity of dreams, ideals, hopes, interests, goals, beliefs, desires, feelings and emotions.
Thus, the conducted research showed that the aesthetic and philosophical searches of S. Shumytskyi's work within the cultural and historical process of the 60s of the 20th century were deep, thorough and reflected the main trends and conditions of the poet's life. Subtle psychologism, lyricism, deep philosophizing are the dominant features of the aesthetic and philosophical searches of the artist's work. The poet often prefers the unconscious. The stream of his consciousness becomes palpable, the desire of the creative personality to escape beyond the existing reality is manifested, etc. The thematic spectrum of Stanislav Vasyliovych's poetry is characterized by a wide variety: from every day to eternal and from permitted to forbidden. In addition, the poet's work is dominated by the study of the human soul, and the highly moral ideas of his poems are characterized by uncompromising ethics, where goodness, truth and beauty always win.
3 DISCUSSION
Modern literary critics pay more and more attention to the study of the phenomenon of the sixties, which is due to the desire to overcome the lack of spirituality, moral impoverishment and moral indifference of society by studying, comparing and contrasting past and present social processes. Modern academic researchers of the sixties phenomenon objectively and comprehensively appreciated the sixties in the Ukrainian literary process and singled out the important role of the writers’ creative individuality at that time, as well as noted the formation of the spiritual energy of the revival of the nation. These researchers also noted that, in the early 60s of the 20th century, young people began to raise a number of humanistic and universal problems. As their duty was to speak the truth, they wanted to restore people's sense of self-respect. In addition, the sixties boldly violated the unitary tendencies of socialist realism with the help of worldview novelty of lyrics and the freedom of moral choice of the philosophy of existentialism (Amangazykyzy et al., 2021; Kim, 2021).
The monograph by L. B. Tarnashynska (2019) entitled Ukrainian sixties: Profiles against the background of the generation examines the poetic and historical-literary aspects of the Ukrainian sixties. With the help of names and biographies, the researcher enables readers to see the era of the sixties not only in the figures, but also through the prism of their creativity, to feel the philosophy of individual individuals’ creative freedom. In another of his works, namely in the methodological academic publication The plot of the day: The discourse of sixties in Ukrainian literature of the 20th century, L. B. Tarnashynska (2013) searches for optimal models of national-ideological contexts. The worldview-philosophical axiological basic is the basis of the sixties phenomenon. In addition, this work is focused on the search for a resonant departure from the prescriptions of socialist realism through the polyphony of meanings. N. P. Anisimova (2015), for example, compares the aesthetics of the sixties, representatives of “quiet lyrics” and the Kyiv school of poetry. The researcher emphasizes that these generations “[…] became decisive in the development of aesthetic models of the world”.
It is also worth emphasizing that in addition to the well-known names of the sixties – L. Kostenko, I. Drach, D. Pavlychko, V. Shevchuk – there were hundreds of others who lived and worked in small towns and villages, and their achievements were determined by moral and philosophical ideals of that time. One of these names is S. Shumytsky, who left earthly life too early and tragically, but in the memories of his contemporaries and in his creations, he remained a true innovator with an extraordinary ability to notice and depict the needs of the human soul, and to direct the mind to the development of solving complex moral and philosophical-aesthetic problems, with a subtle sense of topicality. The range of S. Shumytskyi's creative pursuits is quite wide. It includes original and translated heritage, the genre palette of which combines both prose and poetic works. He achieved the greatest perfection in small poetic genres (Kryvenchuk, 2022). However, the artist's creative heritage is, in the author’s opinion, insufficiently studied. His works deserve closer attention from researchers.
Most researchers note that, thanks to his active creative activity, S. Shumytskyi managed to actively join the ranks of the younger generation of the sixties. According to the researcher, he was a talented supporter of the modernist direction of the lyrical stylistic trend. His experimental searches were extremely diverse, and his work combined the main principles of the sixties through the prism of an individual worldview. Moreover, the researcher claims that S. Shumytskyi was an innovative poet who entered the literary process of the sixties with his lyrical works and became a poet of the future thanks to the actualization of the problems raised, essential problems, active existence, and metaphorical and conditional-associative figurative thinking. S. Shumytskyi made a significant contribution to the development of Ukrainian syncretism of realistic and romantic genres, deepened genre modifications with elements of modernism, folklore and postmodernism, and also developed Ukrainian avant-garde thanks to elegiac elements of a philosophical and psychological nature and thus continued intermedial and genealogical traditions (Kryvenchuk, 2019).
Stanislav Vasyliovych's contemporaries, in particular I. L. Muratov and O. Dnistrovy, emphasized that the artist's work gradually gained “[…] not so much pace as deep breathing” and was characterized by the fact that Shumytskyi abandoned declarativeness and led the reader to get to know the soul of his hero. In addition, they are convinced that Stanislav Vasyliovych’s artistic talent grew gradually and unevenly, but his unique love for people and great capacity for work gave him numerous creative victories (Kucheryava, 2016). A well-known literary critic and an ardent admirer of S. Shumytskyi's talent and creativity, I. M. Lysenko (2002) mentioned in his memoirs that Shumytskyi was the most gifted of the Kharkiv group of poets, his peers, and was considered their leader.
It should be noted that other researchers, including A. Guy (2017), J. Agar (2018), P. Barnett (2004), G. Thomas (2015), M. J. Heale (2005), T. Miller (2001), D. B. Johnson (2014), M. Juvan (2019), A. Taylor (2010) and E. Townsley (2001), also pay considerable attention to the study of the 60s of the 20th century, to the study of the features of this period, its specifics, and as well as to the achievements of cultural, political, literary and other spheres of social life. All the above-mentioned scientists are convinced that it is necessary to study the past in order to be able to build the future. These scientists attach special importance to the consideration of the literary process of the 60s of the 20th century in various countries, since this period of time was characterized by a change in world trends in literature, the emergence of new themes, ideas, motives, and the development of new views on life, which were reflected in literary works (Romaniuk; Yavorska, 2022; Tukhtarova et al., 2021).
So, the analysis of the literature made it possible to come to the conclusion: insufficient attention is paid in scientific literature to the study of S. Shumytskyi’s creative output, as a Kharkiv representative of the sixties. There are very few studies devoted to the analysis of S. Shumytskyi’s personality, his creative heritage and his contribution to the development of the Ukrainian literary process. Modern researchers of the sixties phenomenon focus mainly on the analysis of the sixties movement itself and the examination of the already known representatives of the sixties, leaving out S. Shumytskyi’s figure. The study of S. Shumytskyi’s personality and his creative heritage is relevant and significant today, because the artist was distinguished by innovative ideas, important aesthetic and philosophical searches, and creative achievements in the cultural and historical process of the 60s of the 20th century. In view of the peculiar and unique aesthetic style, the violation of important issues of humanism and morality, the dominance of conditional-associative figurative thinking and the language rich in rhythmic and intonational innovations (Romaniuk, 2021), S. Shumytskyi’s work should be properly appreciated by modern readers. His creative achievements and their influence on modern literary process should be analyzed in detail by researchers (Zhuszupov et al., 2017). It is a modern research of this format that should expand Ukrainian literary studies with new views on the phenomenon of the sixties, the figures of its representatives, and also expand readers' ideas about S. Shumytskyi's contribution to the development of the Ukrainian literary process.
FINAL CONSIDERATIONS
The conducted scientific study of the aesthetic and philosophical searches of Stanislav Shumytskyi's work within the cultural and historical process of the 60s of the 20th century provides grounds for formulating the following conclusions. It was determined that the aesthetic and philosophical searches of Stanislav Shumytskyi's work were deep, thorough and important in the cultural-historical process of the 60s of the XX century, because they reflected the main trends of that time and the conditions of the artist's life. The main features of the poet's aesthetic-philosophical searches are lyricism, subtle psychologism, deep philosophizing, the superiority of the unconscious, the artist’s stream of consciousness, the desire of the creative personality to escape beyond the existing reality, etc. Also, analyzing the aesthetic and philosophical pursuits of S. Shumytskyi's work, such features of the poet's talent were singled out as: philosophical cordocentrism, musical lyricism, humanistic tonality of his poetry, love for the motherland, faith in high ideals of morality, in the triumph of a beautiful future and disguised ideals of truth, in the bright future of the country and in the courage of creative experimentation. S. Shumytsky's work is dominated by the study of the human soul and the predominance of highly moral ideas, which are characterized by uncompromising ethics, where truth, goodness, love and beauty win.
The results obtained within the scope of this scientific research, as well as the conclusions formulated on their basis, can be used as an effective scientific base for further study of Stanislav Shumytskyi’s life and creative path. In addition, the materials of this article can be used by scientists who study Stanislav Shumytskyi’s work, literary critics, teachers, critics, philologists and various other specialists who study issues related to the sixties phenomenon, the life and work of various representatives of this movement and the contribution of the sixties to the development of the Ukrainian literary process. The prospect of further research into this issue is, firstly, a deeper analysis of Stanislav Shumytskyi's poetic works, as well as a detailed examination of the artist's achievements not only in the field of poetic creativity, but also in journalism. In addition, S. Shumytskyi’s translation activity also needs thorough research.
The study provides a deeper understanding of the cultural and historical context of this period. It also highlights Stanisław Szumycki’s role and significance in the development of philosophical and artistic thought of the time. His aesthetic and philosophical explorations help us to understand the transformations that took place in art and culture in the mid-twentieth century. The analysis is useful for understanding the relationship between history, philosophy and art. It is especially valuable to study how an individual could influence large socio-cultural processes. Thus, this study makes a contribution not only to history and philosophy, but also to cultural studies, and it helps to use an interdisciplinary approach to a deeper understanding of history and culture.
PESQUISAS ESTÉTICAS E FILOSÓFICAS DA OBRA DE STANISLAV SHUMYTSKYI NO PROCESSO HISTÓRICO-CULTURAL DOS ANOS 60 DO SÉCULO XX
Abstract: O objetivo do artigo é estudar o desenvolvimento criativo e as buscas estéticas e filosóficas da obra de Stanislav Shumytskyi dentro do processo cultural e histórico dos anos 60 do século XX. A base da abordagem metodológica deste trabalho de pesquisa é um estudo sistemático complexo, que se baseia em uma combinação qualitativa de métodos teóricos de pesquisa. Em particular, análise, síntese, generalização, interpretação, abstração, bem como método descritivo, comparativo, de justaposição, método histórico-comparativo, método intertextual, em particular, seus princípios intermediários, foram aplicados para uma consideração detalhada da obra de Stanislav Shumytskyi. Os principais resultados obtidos no âmbito desta pesquisa científica devem ser considerados com a comprovação das características das buscas estéticas e filosóficas da obra de Stanislav Shumytskyi dentro do processo histórico-cultural dos anos 60 do século XX e o significado da herança criativa do artista para o processo literário moderno.
Keywords: Anos sessenta. Processo literário. Filosofia. esteticismo. Renascimento literário.
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Received: 23/05/2023
Approved: 19/06/2023
Published: 10/10/2023
[1]PhD at the Department of Journalism and Philology, Sumy State University, Sumy – Ukraine. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7258-8128. Email: valentyna.kryvenchuk@ukr.net.