Postcolonial Liminality in The Poem "Kholodnyi Yar" by Taras Shevchenko

Abstract

Background. The study examines the phenomenon of postcolonial liminality as a structural principle of poetics in the poem "Kholodnyi Yar" by Taras Shevchenko. Traditional interpretations of the work's idea, its genre parameters, and symbolic content are not considered final. This relatively short poem exemplifies the creative potential of the author's poetic thinking, manifested in the ability to combine historiosophical depth, political polemic, and prophetic pathos with a concise and compositionally refined simplicity. The research is based on an analysis of the poetic text, its historical and cultural context, the intellectual premises of its creation, and the evolution of its scholarly interpretation.
Methods. The analysis relies on a comprehensive literary approach that integrates historical-genetic, textological, poetic (stylistic and versification), historiosophical, and comparative-conceptual methods.
Results. The article traces nearly a century of scholarly reception of the poem "Kholodnyi Yar", examines its key features, and proposes a new interpretation. The analysis of the chronological sequence of studies demonstrates the evolution of Shevchenko studies: from early aesthetic (P. Lushpynskyi) and ideological (D. Dontsov) interpretations, through detailed philological and stylistic analysis (P. Volynskyi), to ethical (H. Klochek), historiosophical (R. Kharchuk), and comparative-conceptual (Ye. Lebid-Hrebeniuk) approaches. Each study highlights particular dimensions of the work – from artistic excellence and revolutionary pathos to moral perspective, historical memory, and the gestalt-symbol within the context of nation-building. The interpretation proposed in this article, through the lens of liminality within a postcolonial framework, presents "Kholodnyi Yar" as a text that captures the threshold condition of a colonized society. Kholodnyi Yar functions as a liminal space (between past freedom and imperial oblivion, marked by features of unhomeliness). The temporal structure of the poem reproduces a classical liminal model: separation (the haidamak past), the liminal phase (present desolation and "borrowed suffering"), and reintegration (the future "new fire"). The identity of the descendants of the haidamaks appears transitional and hybrid, while the poet emerges as a liminal subject-mediator. Shevchenko's prophecy materialized in the Kholodnyi Yar Republic of 1919–1922, confirming the historical efficacy of the liminal mechanism.
Conclusions. The article provides a comprehensive analysis of the history of the creation of the poem "Kholodnyi Yar", its place within Shevchenko's "Three Years" period, and the evolution of its scholarly interpretation over nearly a century. Six key studies are examined in chronological order, from early aesthetic and ideological readings to contemporary historiosophical, poetic, and comparative-conceptual approaches. The proposed liminal approach within a postcolonial framework significantly complements traditional interpretations. It allows the work to be viewed not only as a literary artifact but also as a powerful mechanism for preserving historical memory and generating the potential for national revival. Liminality explains how the artistic image of Kholodnyi Yar transforms into a symbolic "threshold" that connects past, present, and future, the trauma of colonialism, and the hope for decolonization. Contemporary Shevchenko studies provide a solid foundation for further synthetic and interdisciplinary research that integrates poetics, historiosophy, postcolonial theory, and the current context of the decolonization of Ukrainian culture.