Реферат: Taras Shevchenko

Taras Shevchenko has a unique place in Ukrainian cultural history and in world literature. His writings formed the foundation for the modern Ukrainian literature to a degree that he is also considered the founder of the modern written Ukrainian language (although Ivan Kotlyarevsky pioneered the literary work in what was close to the modern Ukrainian in the end of the eighteenth century). Shevchenko's poetry contributed greatly to the growth of Ukrainian national consciousness, and his influence on various facets of Ukrainian intellectual, literary, and national life is still felt to this day. Influenced by Romanticism, Shevchenko managed to find his own manner of poetic expression that encompassed themes and ideas germane to Ukraine and his personal vision of its past and future.

In view of his literary importance, the impact of his artistic work is often missed although his contemporaries valued his artistic work no less, or perhaps even more, than the literary one. A great number of his pictures, drawings and etchings preserved to this day testify for his unique artistic talent. He also experimented with the photography and it is little known that Shevchenko may be considered to have pioneered the art of etching in the Russian Empire (in 1860 he was awarded the title of the Academician in the Imperial Academy of Arts specifically for his achievements in etching.)^[2]

His influence on the Ukrainian culture has been so immense, that even at Soviet times, the official position was to downplay strong Ukrainian nationalism expressed in his poetry, suppressing any mention of it, and to put an emphasis on the social and anti-Tsarist aspects of his legacy, the Class struggle within the Russian Empire. Shevchenko, who himself was born a serf and suffered tremendously for his political views in opposition to the established order of the Empire, was presented in the Soviet times as an internationalist who stood up in general for the plight of the poor classes exploited by the reactionary political regime rather than the vocal proponent of the Ukrainian national idea.

This view is significantly revised in modern independent Ukraine where he is now viewed as almost an iconic figure with the unmatched significance for the Ukrainian nation, the view that has been mostly shared all along by the Ukrainian diaspora that has always revered Shevchenko.

Monuments and Memorials

The ceremonial opening of the monument by the Latvian sculptor Janis Tilbergs to Taras Shevchenko in Petrograd (Saint Petersburg) on December 1, 1918. The inscription says: "To the great Ukrainian poet-pesant T. G. Shevchenko (1814 - 1861) from the great Russian nation." The plaster monument existed for only eight years due to the deterioration of the material in the open air. It was planned to be replaced by a bronze version which never happened.

There are many monuments to Shevchenko throughout Ukraine, most notably at his memorial in Kaniv and in the center of Kiev, just across the Kiev University that bears his name. The Kiev Metro station, Tarasa Shevchenka, is also dedicated to Shevchenko. Among other notable monuments to the poet located throughout Ukraine are the ones in Kharkiv (in front of the Shevchenko Park), Lviv, Luhansk and many others.

Outside of Ukraine monuments to Shevchenko have been put up in several location of the former USSR associated with his legacy, both in the Soviet and the post-Soviet times. The modern monument in Saint Petersburg was erected on December 22, 2000, but the first monument (pictured) was built in the city in 1918 on the order of Lenin shortly after the Great Russian Revolution. There is also a monument located next to the Shevchenko museum at the square that bears the poet's name in Orsk, Russia (the location of the military garrison where the poet served) where there are also a street, a library and the Pedagogical Institute named to the poet.^[3] There are Shevchenko monuments and museums in the cities of Kazakhstan where he was later transferred by the military: Aqtau (the city was named Shevchenko between 1964 and 1992) and nearby Fort Shevchenko (renamed from Fort Alexandrovsky in 1939).

After Ukraine gained its independence in the wake of the 1991 Soviet Collapse, some Ukrainian cities replaced their statues of Lenin with statues of Taras Shevchenko^{[citation needed ]} and in some locations that lacked streets named to him, local authorities renamed the streets or squares to Shevchenko, even though these sites usually have little or no connection to his biography. These memorials testify, perhaps, to a greater spirit of patriotism than historical accuracy.

Outside of Ukraine and the former USSR monuments to Shevchenko have been put up in many countries, usually under the initiative of local Ukrainian diasporas. There are several memorial societies and monuments to him throughout Canada and the United States, most notably a monument in Washington, D.C., near Dupont Circle. There is also a monument in Tipperary Hill in Syracuse, United States.

The town of Vita in Manitoba, Canada was originally named Shevchenko in his honor. There is a Shevchenko Square in Paris located in the heart of the central Saint-Germain-des-Prés district. The Leo Mol sculpture garden in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, contains many images of Taras Shevchenko.

A two-tonne bronze statue of Shevchenko, located in a memorial park outside of Oakville, Ontario was discovered stolen in December 2006. It was taken for scrap metal; the head was recovered in a damaged state, but the statue was not repairable.

Example of poetry

Testament (Zapovit )

— Taras Shevchenko, 25 December 1845, Pereyaslav.

References:

1. Shevchenko, Taras (English) . Encyclopedia of Ukraine . Retrieved on March 22, 2007.

2. (Russian) Paola Utevskaya, Dmitriy Gorbachev, «He could have understood Picasso himself», Zerkalo Nedeli, July 26 - August 1, 1997.

3. (Russian) Historical page of Orsk.

4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taras_Hryhorovych_Shevchenko