V. Vynnychenko`s works as representation of intellectual ideas about Ukrainian peasantry from Naddniprianschyna at the turn of the ХІХ–ХХ centuries

Анотація

Introduction.The 19th century was a challenging time for the establishment of a modern Ukrainian intelligentsia. Despite its low numerosity, it was bound to play an important role in the formation of the ethnic (national) culture, created credible approaches to the understanding of peasantry, development of unique social and political ideas. V. Vynnychenko was an extraordinary representative of Ukrainian intellectual cohort of Naddniprianschyna region, known as an intelligent person as well as a remarkable party representative, public and political figure.

Purpose. In order to represent V. Vynnychenko’s intellectual understanding of the Ukrainian peasantry, the researcher analysed his early works within a period from 1902 to 1908, when almost all of the writer’s inheritance was dedicated to this subject. In this particular article works of V.Vynnychenko’s contemporaries such as І. Franko, О. Hrushevskyi, М. Zerov, І. Dzeverin and others were also reviewed that allows a deeper understanding of the essence of a problem.

Results. It is worth mentioning that previous researchers of V. Vynnychenko inheritance paid attention to his new «vision» of the Ukrainian peasantry of Naddniprianschyna. Vynnychenko was among the first ones who described peasantry quite differently than it had ever been presented before. Having a creative personality, being a patriot, a man of his time, he left aside existent populist-conditional character of a village, described divisions and deformation of old style of life, showed service in a gentlemen court as a transitional period from a corvee to relatively free life, presented reforms and tendency of evolution from Ukrainian agrarian patriarchal mode («calmness») to capitalization and modernisation («proletarianization»).

Conclusion. This article is based on studies of V. Vynnychenko’s works (particularly stories «Student», «Soldiers», «Maloros-europian» «Next to the machine» and others), explored his ideas of rural part of the Ukrainian society and favourable attitude toward farmer-workers, discovered the aspect of social inequality in villages and transformation of Vynnychenko’s views on peasantry in the conditions in time of growth of people’s dissatisfaction (1902) and First Russian revolution in 1905.