Authors

Rossella Caria¹;  ¹ University of Milan, Italy

Discussion

The long decade that spans from the October Revolution in 1917 to the institution of the Congress of Soviet Writers in 1934 was characterised by great cultural ferment in Ukraine. This innovative artistic outburst had a dual origin. On the one hand, it arose from the circulation of revolutionary ideals among Ukrainian intellectuals, which contributed to the desire to create a new world based on social justice. On the other, it stemmed from the enthusiasm that originated from the new freedom guaranteed to Ukrainian culture after centuries of colonial oppression under the Tsarist Empire. Moving from these optimistic premises, many writers of this period elaborated original artistic and cultural views, which, I argue, can be understood effectively through the prism of contemporary postcolonial and decolonial studies. In this paper, I will analyse two instances of this ‘proto-decolonial’ thought as expressed in the works by two writers of this period, namely Maik Iohansen (1896-1937) and Mykola Khvyl’ovyi (1893-1933). As regards the former, I will focus on the process of “epistemological reconstruction” (Quijano: 2007) in his adventure novel Pryhody Mak Leistona, Harri Ruperta ta inshykh (Adventures of Mac Layston, Harry Rupert, and Others, 1925), in which characters coming from colonially exploited countries finally gain an individual voice and engage in reciprocal relationships of care and assistance, thus asserting the principle of international solidarity between oppressed peoples. As to Kvyl’ovyi, I will highlight his attempts at “provincializing” European knowledge (Chakrabarty: 2000), as emerges in his novel Povist’ pro sanatoriinu zonu (Tale about the Sanatorium Zone, 1924). These two case studies will allow us to assess the relevance of a decolonial approach in the study of 1920s Ukrainian literature. Additionally, I will consider whether an interrelation exists between Marxist thought, popular among Soviet Ukrainian writers of this period, and contemporary post- and decolonial theories.