THE IMAGE OF THE COSSACK WARRIOR IN UKRAINIAN LITERATURE OF THE XVIII CENTURY

Abstract

The article examines for the first time the initial stages of the formation of the image of the Cossack Warrior in the national literature of the XVIII century in relation to the folklore heritage of our people and the artists’ worldview of the word. Using the general scientific and cultural-historical methods made it possible to find out that the majestic image of the Cossack Warrior was formed for the first time on the pages of chronicles by Samovydets, H. Hrabianka, S. Velychko, M. Plyska, H. Pokas, “History of Ruthenians”, diaries by P. Orlyk, M. Khanenko, Y. Markovych, P. Apostol, the Hetman’s Chancellery of 1722–1723, «God’s Mercy» by an unknown author, «Resurrection of the Dead» by G. Konysky, “Conversation between Great Russia and Little Russia” by S. Divovych and the verse chronicle “Heroic Verses” by Ioann Umanskyi. The method of post-colonial criticism made it possible to emphasize that the images of Severyn Nalyvaiko, Maksym Kryvonis, Ivan Sirko, Ivan Bohun, Ivan Zolotarenko, Tymish Khmelnytsky, as well as collective Cossack images in all presented works of the national literature of that time are symbols of the anti-colonial resistance of our people against foreign enslavers. Similar to the thoughts and historical songs of the Cossacks in the chronicle prose of the XVIII century depicted as courageous, brave, intelligent and prudent defenders of their native land. It has been proven that chroniclers prefer images of Cossack leaders over Hetman images. Historical heritage of the XVIII century endows the image of Ivan Sirko with elements of pre-Christian mythology. The collective image of the Cossacks in the poetic chronicle «Heroic Poems» by Ioann Umansky embodies the best features of our Cossacks. A systematic analysis of various genre works of Ukrainian literature of the XVIII century made it possible to reveal both the views of contemporary Ukrainians on the images of Cossack defenders, which were embodied through the folklore heritage of our people, as well as individual and authorial views, presenting the process of building anti-colonial resistance throughout the territory of an ancient Ukraine.