Authors

Discussion

In my paper, I will engage with poetic texts by Ukrainian authors that have published their work in the Dnipro-based “Ton’kie linii” poetry series edited by Stanislav Belskii in the years between 2014 and 2022. Much of the poetry published in “Ton’kie linii” is in Russian, but Ukrainian and bilingual texts are also part of the project. The poets who have chosen “Ton’kie linii” for their books hail from different parts of Ukraine and follow a variety of literary styles and orientations, but they may be said to be united by a mutual interest in issues of cultural identification including multilingualism, memory, and complex identities. Their poetry often reflects on controversial or painful topics such as the Soviet past, the Russian occupation of swaths of Ukraine in 2014, and the relationship between national and complex identities. Language choice and literary tradition(s) are also a significant theme in what we might refer to as the “Ton’kie linii” school of contemporary Ukrainian poetry. It is my argument that this significant portion of today’s poetic scene in Ukraine has not received the degree of attention it deserves and that studying its peculiarities could contribute to a fuller and more nuanced understanding of both contemporary Ukrainian culture and the issue of cultural Russophonia.