Parambul I. Existentialism in the Works of Valerian Pidmohylnyi: a Historical and Philosophical Approach.

The dissertation explores existential philosophizing in the works of Ukrainian writer Valerian Pidmohylnyi. There have been highlighted views in the prose of the writer consonant with the reflections of the representatives of existential philosophy – Soren Kierkegaard, Karl Jaspers, Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre. There was examined the comprehension of Valerian Pidmohylnyi’s key problems of existentialism philosophy, such as aesthetic and ethical lifestyles, absurdity of existence, “boundary situation”, and the artist’s involvement in social realities. Based on the archival documents there has been researched the life path of Valerian Pidmohylnyi which in a way influenced his work. It has been revealed that the writer himself lived in the age of historical upheaval and personally experienced those catastrophes that fell to the lot of his generation. Thus, his interest in “boundary” states in human life, comprehension of the tragic periods of human existence, the absurdity of life, completely coincide with the mood prevailing among the thinkers of the first half of the twentieth century having witnessed two world wars. It was made apparent that the ideology of the Ukrainian writer entirely fits in the existential opinion of that time. Since the range of problems in the innovative views of Valerian Pidmohylnyi is still relevant, the conclusion was drawn: there are the coinciding of philosophy and literature in his works, as well as the further prospect of studies of his prose.