Systematic, holistic study of Ukrainian literature of 1920s through the prism of the theory of intertextuality was first implemented in a thesis. The achievements of Ukrainian researchers of intertextuality are deeply analyzed. Typology and functions of citations, allusions, reminiscences, titles, epigraphs, dedications, transpositions in the literature of “shot renaissance” are investigated in a holistic and systematic way; the repertoire of key pretexts has been determined, the leading representatives of domestic and foreign literary pantheons have been identified.
The formation of the intertextual space of 1920s influenced both traditional factors (the literary canon, the contemporary literary “fashion”, the individual preferences of specific writers), and the specific-historical ones, conditioned, on the one hand, by Ukrainianization, discussions about the ways of development of Ukrainian literature, in particular the discussion of 1925-1928, on the other hand by the impact of Soviet ideological discourse. During this period, the authorities gradually tried different mechanisms of influence on the literary process. It concerned subjects and systems of characters, genres and artistic techniques. At the level of intertextual interactions, this was realized in the modeling of the updated domestic and foreign literary canons.
The study of national writing of the era of the “red renaissance” has shown that the most popular and most productive form of intertextual interaction were allusions, thanks to which the writers managed to characterize the case situation or a certain type of personality so accurately and succinctly. Among the actively exploited forms of intertextuality are quotes, reminiscences, epigraphs and intertextual headings, parodies and various types of transpositions (paraphrase, free translation, reprisal, intercultural transpositions, etc.).
In the context of Ukrainian writing of 1920s, the Bible belongs to the key. Intertextemes from the Old and New Testaments appear in the works of “revolutionary orthodoxes” and the followers, experimenters and traditionists (Ostap Vyshnia, A. Holovko, P. Holota, I. Dniprovskyi, O. Dosvitnii, M. Ivchenko, I. Kocherha, M. Kulish, I. Mykytenko, M. Khvylovyi, etc.). From the canonical texts, “The Pentateuch of Moses”, “Psalter”, and especially “The Gospel Book”, were the most popular. The most popular images of the Old Testament were Cain and Moses, the New Testament – Jesus Christ, the Blessed Virgin, and Judah. In relation to biblical images and patterns two approaches were clearly outlined: 1) perception of them as universal cultural “codes”, 2) desacralization and deliberate canons impairing. The Bible touches were applicable mainly for retransmission of moral prescriptions, concise explication of precedent situations, characteristics of actors and anti-religious propaganda. By the end of 1920s, normal circulation of biblical intertexts gets broken due to the aggressive deployment of anti-religious propaganda. The Bible is increasingly used not as an authoritative source, but as a subject of controversy, ironic play, parody, and so on.
In Ukrainian writing of “red renaissance” three vectors of intertextual interactions are considered to be defining: Ukrainian, Western European and Russian. Changes in the socio-cultural situation have determined re-structuring of the intertextual space where Ukrainian literature has taken a central place. All literary epochs and styles are presented here with varying intensity. The key figures of the Ukrainian literary pantheon are T. Shevchenko, P. Tychyna, M. Hohol and I. Franko. Along with Ukrainian in the intertextual space of 1920s the most widely represented are the ancient, Russian, French and English literature.
The greatest number of intertextemes is recorded in the works of M. Rylskyi, M. Zerov, M. Khvylovyi, M. Kulish and M. Semenko. Actively adverted to other's words Ostap Vyshnia, O. Vlyzko, I. Dniprovskyi, V. Domontovych, O. Dosvitnii, I. Kocherha, V. Pidmohylnyi, I. Senchenko, L. Starytska-Cherniakhivska, P. Tychyna. The tendency to intertextual interactions is a clear sign of idiostyle of these authors.
The intertextual space of 1920s is a rich blending with the echoes of works of domestic and foreign authors, literature of different epochs and countries, mythological, religious and philosophical systems. The creative absorption of the best achievements of world literature, openness to the “dialogue” are the decisive evidence of Ukrainian writings of the “shot-out Renaissance” that will be eradicated in the era of socialist realism reign.
