We continue our series of posts on the research conducted by the project’s literary group, and this time we turn to an article by Oleksandr Boron dedicated to the Jewish theme in the Kobzar’s works.
Oleksandr Boron is a Doctor of Philology, a Corresponding Member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Deputy Director for Research and Head of the Shevchenko Studies Department at the T. H. Shevchenko Institute of Literature of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, a laureate of the State Prize of Ukraine in Science and Technology, and author of numerous monographs and studies devoted to the works of Taras Shevchenko.
The researcher demonstrates that widespread accusations of anti-Semitism against Shevchenko often arise from equating the author with his characters and ignoring the historical context. At the same time, the real Shevchenko repeatedly demonstrated a humanistic stance toward Jews, and in 1858 he even joined a protest against anti-Semitic publications in the press.
This article focuses on Jewish characters in Shevchenko’s poetry and prose. The researcher analyzes how the literary and folkloric stereotypes of his time functioned, while also drawing attention to the complexity of individual characters. Even in «The Haidamaks», where Jews are often portrayed through the lens of the era’s collective perceptions, the character of Leiba goes far beyond a simple division into «positive» and «negative» heroes.
“Even during Shevchenko’s lifetime, members of the educated Jewish community and the intelligentsia regarded Shevchenko as one of their own; his work, to the extent they were familiar with it at the time, was close to their hearts and easily understood, for he had become the voice of universal human ideals.”
This article invites readers to examine Shevchenko’s work without oversimplifications or fixed labels. It reminds us that the complex world of literature rarely lends itself to unambiguous assessments, and that a careful reading of texts and contexts often reveals much more than established notions.
The full article will be available this summer following the online publication of the project’s Imagological Collection on the website.
This publication was produced as part of the project "Jewish Heritage in Ukraine: Interdisciplinary Reflections through the Lens of Archival Documents, Culture, History, and Literature", implemented by the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy with the support of UNESCO Ukraine and the European Union.
All publications are produced with the financial support of the European Union. Their content is the sole responsibility of the partners and does not necessarily reflect the position of the European Union.