“Society Did not Notice Her, Passed Her by”: from the History of the Study of “Exotic” Plots in the Works of Lesya Ukrainka

The article examines the initial stage in the study of Lesya Ukrainka’s works, where most of the plots and images of her poetry were perceived by contemporaries and the next generation of readers as “exotic.” Not understood by contemporaries, the legacy of Lesya Ukrainka turned out to be in demand in the 1920s, at that time the main directions of research of her work were laid. The main merit in popularizing the poetry of Lesya Ukrainka belongs to a group of “neoclassical” poets and literary critics close to them, who taught readers to “love and understand” her works with “exotic” plots. As a circumstance that influenced the specific imagery of Lesya Ukrainka’s poetry, researchers of that time highlighted the writer’s immersion in world literature. For the second time, a deep interest in the work of Lesya Ukrainka arose at the turn of the 20–21st centuries in connection with the publication and study of the heritage of Ukrainian modernists of the early 20th century. Then some facts of her biography were rediscovered and many aspects of her legacy were rethought. New facets of the writer’s works allow us to explore the “Complete Academic Collection of Works” by Lesya Ukrainka, published in 2021, and dedicated to the 150th anniversary of her birth. It provides an opportunity to analyze the process of her becoming and formation as a creative personality, which took place under the influence of the environment, upbringing and work on literary translations.