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The paper considers the main Panteleimon Kulish’s epic poems “Marusia Bohuslavka”, “Baida, Prince Vyshnevetskyi”, “Muhammad and Hadiza” with the focus on their oriental background. The idea of the eastern orientation of P. Kulish originates from the works of V. Shchurat, V. Ivashkiv and others. The main attention is drawn to the fact that Kulish was considerably acquainted with eastern cultures and religious systems (especially those of Near East and Middle East which he had to know as a translator of Bible) and often used eastern concepts in his philosophic and literary works. The researcher traces the influence of different factors in Kulish’s ‘Eastern poems’ at the levels of ideology and imagery. The analysis reveals that the main sources of the author’s creative ideas were the eastern religious mystical systems (such as Islam, Sufi sm) as well as European Romantic works, in particular those by Lord Byron and P. B. Shelley, that were created under the same influence of the eastern philosophic doctrines and philosophy of Spinoza. This content was most vividly embodied in Kulish’s ‘cordocentric’ doctrine contrasting with ‘ratiocentric’ European philosophies. The emphasis on the concept of the heart and emotional sphere is most eloquent and obvious in the image of Woman that is interpreted as the eastern category of eternal femininity. The eastern focus is also noticeable at the thematic level (the concepts of Truth, Love, and Eternity). The main poetical peculiarities of the analyzed works are found in the mystical thinking and belief in the sacred power of the Word. Thus the language of the poems is very allegoric, enigmatic, and mysterious; it rather veils the main meaning than reveals it. So it results in double meaning or multiplicity of interpretations and demands reading the poems with a search for a certain code or cipher for decoding the author’s imagery and parabolic content. That is why the poems leave the impression of paradoxical thinking and remain difficult for understanding which relate them to the works by Lord Byron and P. B. Shelley (“Revolt of Islam”). Probably this combination of Asian mysticism and European philosophies was the main reason why some critics accused Kulish of being ‘non-synthetic’ personality (S. Yefremov). But oriental focus reveals the new way for understanding and interpreting the poems by Kulish, as well as his philosophic doctrine and personal position in life. |
