THE REFLECTION OF UKRAINIAN SPIRITUALITY IN THE NOVELLA “KYIV BEGGARS” BY IVAN NECHUI-LEVYTSKYI

Abstract

The article contains the thorough analysis of artistic interpretation of Ukrainian spirituality based on the Ivan Nechui-Levytskyi’s novella “Kyiv beggars” (1901). The author of the article explores the phenomenon of spirituality and morality, feigned religiosity, and parasitic lifestyles, which is revealed as a form of spiritual degradation of certain individuals in 19th-century Ukrainian society. She points out the fact that in the “Kyiv beggars” the writer himself claimed to have created a unique “collection” of characters – beggars – from the intellectuals, proletarians and other social strata of idlers whom he had observed in Kyiv. He was most interested in those who begged for alms near the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. The researcher’s deepest attention is paid to the contrast between genuine and feigned spirituality, the role of satire as a means of artistic exposure, as well as to lingual-stylistic features that highlight the mental traits of Ukrainians. The scholar notes that the writer depicted the contrast between the characters’ outward piety and inner emptiness, which was particularly vivid in the speech, behavior, and minor actions of the characters of the novella The author of the article believes that nowadays, in time of moral challenges, the issue of spirituality among the Ukrainians is highly relevant, that is why scholars pay great attention to analyzing and studying the role of spirituality in the national life of Ukraine, particularly in the oeuvre of Ivan Nechui-Levytskyi. In her opinion, the writer raises a number of moral and ethical issues through the prism of the spiritual emptiness of the younger generation of the characters’ – elderly women – families. The article also contains examination of the images of “beggars” as typical bearers of ideas about conscience, faith, and honesty, as well as the role of the writer as a moral judge. In conclusion, the researcher emphasizes the relevance of spirituality in contemporary society and the significance of the novella for understanding the social crisis in a historical context. It was also ascertained that the novella “Kyiv beggars” reflects the realia of Ukrainian life in the second half of the 19th century.