The paper is dedicated to the complex mythocritical analysis of the Prague School poets’ lyrics, which is saturated with archetypes, plots, and images of old Ukrainian mythology. The study analyzes the poetry of sixteen authors of Ukrainian emigration in the 1920s and 1940s who actualized the Ukrainian myth in their poetry, namely: Oles Babiy, Yuriy Darahan, Yevhen Malaniuk, Maksym Hryva, Yuriy Lypa, Halyna Mazurenko, Oleksa Stefanovych, Natalia Livytska-Kholodna, Iryna Narizhna, Oleh Olzhych, Olena Teliha, Ivan Irliavsky, Oksana Liaturynska, Leonid Mosendz, and Mykola Chyrsky. Each author shows in their texts a unique, individual realization of the mythological worldview.
The paper deals with only poetic texts because they are more saturated with the archetypes, plots, and images of old Ukrainian mythology than prose or drama. This study does not open a debate about which authors can and cannot be related to the Prague School. However, the reference to old Ukrainian myth is one of the features that unite these authors into a school and define its style.
The author chose the term “Prague School” in this study because it has a teacher. The inspirer of the Prague School, Yurii Darahan, in his only book, The Sahaidak (1925), gave the creative tools that inspired both the older and younger generations of the poets. The book demonstrates a huge variety of plots and images of Ukrainian mythology and leaves a strong influence on the entire Prague School.
The historical and cultural situation in which the defenders of the Ukrainian People’s Republic and their families found themselves is similar to the current historical situation – the war with russia, the loss of home, and the unwillingness of society to unite for a common goal and support its heroes. The Prague School was formed by former militaries and intellectuals who ought to reflect on the war and the reasons for the defeat. They believed that new generations of people would grow up on Ukrainian land and defend their homeland. They left an important message for these generations – that is, for us. Their experience is relevant and extremely valuable for Ukrainian society in this difficult historical time.
The historical crisis urges a rethinking of the basic concepts of existence, which are accumulated in the archetypes, plots, and images of folk mythology. At the dawn of a nation, these concepts determine its values, worldview, mentality, and actions. Returning to mythology is the inner desire to regain the memory of oneself – one’s values, rank, and identity. It is inherent in the Prague School lyrics in general and in each of its representatives in particular. The concepts of the old Ukrainian myth are individually comprehended. Although this is one of the formative features of the Prague School, it is not a tendency. It is something “primordinal” that “aspired to become the Word” (according to Jung). A mythocritical (archetypal) analysis of Prague School poetry will allow us to deepen its interpretation and explore in more detail the artistic model of the world of its authors.
Vira Prosalova in her monograph The text in the world of texts of Prague literature school (2005) and articles addressed the topic of archetypes in the Prague School poetry. O. Astafiev, B. Boichuk, A. Dnistrovyi, H. Kloček, Y. Kovaliv, L. Kutsenko, and O. Omelchuk touched upon the theme of mythology in the lyrics of individual Prague School poets. The works of the Prague School representatives and their contemporaries are also valuable for studying of it: D. Humenna, D. Dontsov, Y. Klen, B. Kravtsiv, Y. Lypa, N. Livytska-Kholodna, O. Liaturynska, E. Malaniuk, O. Olzhych, U. Samchuk, and O. Teliha. V. Derzhavyn, I. Dziuba, O. Zhdanovych, M. Zhulynskyi, O. Zinkevych, M. Ilnytskyi, I. Kachurovskyi, H. Klochek, Yu. Lavrinenko, V. Morenets, I. Nabitovych, M. Nevrlyi, B. Rubchak, T. Riazantseva, O. Omelchuk, T. Salyha, M. Sytnyk, M. Slaboshpytskyi, O. Tarnavskyi, I. Fizer, L. Cherevatenko, Y. Shevelov and many other researchers deeply analyzed the poetics of Prague School lyrics.
Ukrainian mythology often becomes the basis for the model of the world of the Prague School poets, who ought to return, rethink, and actualize the primordial conceptions about being.
The theoretical novelty of the study lies in the detailed interpretation of texts by various representatives of the Prague School through the prism of national (i. e., Ukrainian) mythology, which is due to the authors’ frequent reference to its archetypes, plots, and images and their rethinking at the fictional and conceptual level in the context of the historical situation. Each mythologeme accumulates a set of meanings and a whole layer of cultural context. Expressed in only one image or plot, it is able to contain an entire worldview concept.
