The dissertation focused on the research of the genealogy of Ukrainian literary criticism of the end of the XIX – thirties of the XX century. The regarded and the classification of the literary studies done according the traditionalist and modern paradigms. The factors, which preceded the modern Ukrainian literary studies, revealed and analyzed. It is about: the first, clearly determined the Ukrainian literary studies object and subject done by M.Dashkevych and O.Ohonovskyj. The second, the new principles of scientific criticism identified by I.Franko. The third, the changing of the investigate method by V.Perets. The fourth, the coming of the first generation of the professional literary scientists in 1917-1920. The theoretical background of the neoclassical discourse of the Ukrainian literary studies analyzed through the relations to the ideas of the cultural morphology.
The intellectual practices of the M.Zerov, P.Fylypovych, V.Petrov, O.Burgardt, M.Drij-Khmara, M.Rylskyj and the scientists V.Derzhsvyn, B.Navrockyj, A.Nikovskyj, B.Jakubskyj at. created the neoclassical discourse in the 1920th. The Ukrainian neoclassicism of the 20th years of the XX century first of all is the cultural theory orientated to the formation of the high culture by the linking the national tradition and European classic. Ideologically the aim of the Ukrainian neoclassical discourse was the transformation of the peripheral cultural self-consciousness of Ukrainians into the centrist consciousness. Such transformation done by the interrupt with the former ethnographic tradition.
The scope of the theoretical studies of the Ukrainian neoclassic scientists were the form and style, literary canon, the critics of the early Ukrainian modernism, the theory of the poetry studies and translation. The notions of the “classic”, “form”, “style” from the point of view of the cultural morphology were the important part of their theoretical proposition. This approach corresponds with the European literary studies entirely, namely with the German philosophy school (G. Zimmel, G. Wolflin, O. Walcel). This discourse founded new scientific approach to the studies of the phenomenons of the literature history and theory. The neoclassical outlook formed in the period of the historical crisis, the transformation of the philosophical esthetic ideas, and reflected the cultural atmosphere of the epoch. T
Mycola Zerow is central author of the Ukrainian neoclassical discourse. The debatable question of M. Zerov's scientific method is consider in this dissertation. Most scholars do this from a philological point of view, but we offer a morphological perspective and consider the ideas of cultural morphology of the early twentieth century. As a literary historian, he reformatted the scientific paradigm of literary history research in accordance with modern morphological views in art history research. In the study of the Literary History M. Zerov relies on the European cultural tradition, the idea of the historical regularity of the arts’ development as whole unit, but conserve of the sociological approach at same time. The scholar changed the literary canon, shifted the emphasis from one text to another in the works of "strong writers" (I. Kotlyarevsky, G. Kvitka-Osnovnonenko, I. Franko, Lesya Ukrainka) and reviewed the weak authors of Ukrainian literature (O. Storozenko, Marko Vovchok, A. Svydnytsky, Y. Shogoliv, Marko Cheremshyna). The most important point of the Ukrainian neoclassical discourse was the turn from “the history of the authors” into “the history of the texts”, and the new periodization of the literature history through the styles.
The neoclassical discourse founded new scientific approach to the studies of the phenomes of the literature history and theory, and foundation of the modern Ukrainian Literary Studies. This discourse consisted of openness to new transformational processes in world culture and literature of the end of XIX and the thirties of XX centuries and at the same time based on the national heritage. The intellectual practices of the Ukrainian neoclassical discourse combined the newest literary studies methods and national cultural tradition, and integrated the Ukrainian literature and philological science in the world context.
