TO THE ISSUE OF NATIONAL IDENTITY IN THE SELF-PUBLISHED TEXTS BY VASYL STUS

Abstract

The paper examines four texts by V. Stus, published in the uncensored periodical “Ukrainskyi Visnyk” from January 1970 to January 1971 (“A Place in a Battle or in a Massacre?”, “Nowadays it is clear to everyone...”, “Every normally organized society...”, and the poem in memory of Alla Horska “Burn Bright, My Soul, Burn Bright, and Do Not Weep!”) taking into account the investigative files of the poet, who was convicted of self-publishing. Within the analyzed prose texts, Stus defends well-known representatives of the resistance movement (Ivan Dziuba, Valentyn Moroz, Vasyl Zakharchenko, Ivan Suk), emphasizes every person’s need for freedom, and draws attention to the necessity of dialogue between the state leadership and society as the latter also bears responsibility for the authorities’ criminal actions. The poet underlines the important role of the creative youth, in which he sees the ‘self-recovery’ of the Ukrainian nation. In the poem “Burn Bright, My Soul, Burn Bright, and Do Not Weep!”, Stus relates his personal profound tragedy, caused by the murder of A. Hors’ka, to the tragedy experienced by the entire generation of the sixtiers and the nation as a whole. There is a variety of colors in the poem (an allusion to painting, to which A. Horska devoted her life) with the dominance of red, embodied in the image of viburnum, the national symbol of Ukraine. The revised versions of the poem, published in the collections “The Merry Cemetery” and “Palimpsests”, were also considered. The issue of national identity in Stus’s texts is presented implicitly: he primarily defends a man and the values of freedom, which is associated with creative opportunities for the development of native culture. It is noteworthy that the national issue constitutes a significant point in the investigative files, forming the basis for accusations of 'anti-Soviet activities' against the poet.