SPIRITUAL AND MORAL MOTIVES OF TARAS SHEVCHENKO’S CREATIVITY

Abstract

Introduction. The creativity of our national prophet Taras Shevchenko during the Ukrainian-Russian war is an urgent problem today. His spiritual and moral appeals to the Ukrainian people need to be rethought from the standpoint of Christian faith and morality, since in the past Soviet ideology tried to present Kobzar as an atheist, blasphemer, and democratic revolutionary, a "forerunner of the October Revolution", who allegedly saw our future only in unity with the Russian by the people The word God, which Shevchenko always wrote with a capital letter, was traditionally presented with a small letter in the Soviet editions of Kobzar. There were even cases when some words were deliberately changed in Taras Shevchenko's poems so that the content of his poetry seemed godless. Taras's poem "Diggered Grave" was, as a rule, not included in the content of "Kobzar" in the times of the so-called "friendship of nations".

Methods. Methods of moral and spiritual analysis of the work of our famous poet and artist were used. The poetry of Taras Shevchenko was analyzed from the standpoint of Christian faith and morality.

Results. The origin and pedigree of our great Ukrainian genius is revealed. The main spiritual and moral categories used by Taras Shevchenko in his work were studied, namely: God, prayer, problems of good and evil, fraternity, justice, truth, will. The motives of Shevchenko's complaint against the church order and certain clergymen, who were indifferent to the fate of the Ukrainian people, are indicated. Emphasis is placed on a number of works of the great Kobzar, which were devoted to spiritual and moral themes.

Conclusions. It is presented that the literary and artistic work of our Kobzar bears the stamp of Christian faith and morality and great love for the Motherland and the Ukrainian people. Emphasis is placed on the poetic stylization of certain literary works of Shevchenko, which were based on the books of the Old Testament. Shevchenko was truly our national prophet, because he spoke in the name of God about the fate and misfortune of his long-suffering people. The peculiarity of the sacred work of Taras Shevchenko is emphasized, since he painted some churches and monasteries in Ukraine. 

Taras Shevchenko's Ukrainian centrism and his keeping a clear conscience are emphasized.

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