IVAN KORSAK AND MYKHAILO SLABOSHPYTSKYI: PARALLELS AND INTERACTION

Abstract

The article examines the personal relationships and creative heritage of two prominent modern Ukrainian novelists - Ivan Korsak and Mykhailo Slaboshpytskyi. The commonality of life experience and values of both artists is indicated. It is claimed that although a significant part of their lives was spent in Soviet Ukraine, they did not become Soviet people (although they were forced to make compromises with the Soviet system - otherwise they would not have survived). First of all, they were aware of their Ukrainianness and tried to realize themselves as Ukrainian writers. Both Ivan Korsak and Mykhailo Slaboshpytskyi were united by an interest in history, unique personalities, and the drama of human destinies, which led them both to the biographical genre. The historical prose of both writers is marked by deep patriotism, intellectuality, and the relevance of the issues raised. It is shown that the novels of Ivan Korsak and Mykhailo Slaboshpytskyi, in addition to the artistic one, have an educational function, because it is the historical novelists who make people patriots. Their novels are written fascinatingly, with documentary compliance, sprinkled with numerous facts, the vicissitudes of Ukrainian history with a projection on modernity are valuable for both literary critics and historians. So, among the commonalities between Ivan Korsak and Mykhailo Slaboshpytskyi, it is possible to single out, firstly, that a significant part of their literary work in one way or another relates to historical topics, and secondly, that both of them worked for a long time in the mass media, as well as in mature age engaged in business. Particular attention is paid to the influence of Mykhailo Slaboshpytskyi on the activation of Ivan Korsak's work and its promotion at the all-Ukrainian level. The conclusion was the statement that the novels of Ivan Korsak still need to be understood from different points of view - both the general idea, and the peculiarities of creative techniques, and the ratio of documentary facts and artistic fiction.