National and Patriotic Aspects of Cultural and Artistic Heritage of the Ukrainian Creative Intelligentsia in the Years of Khrushchev’s «Thaw» and the Unfolding of Brezhnev’s «Stagnation»

Abstract

The article proves that the main layers of the Ukrainian cultural heritage of the 60s – 70s of the 20th century were filled with national content. The right to free national development of Ukrainians was defended in their writings by masters of the pen – poets, novelists, publicists, writers. Identification of Ukrainianness was carried out by them on the basis of national faith, language, traditions and other means of ethno-affirmation. It was revealed that the Ukrainian song in the conditions of the comprehensive policy of Russification became a means of implementing the national language practice in the lives of Ukrainians. Film artists and theater groups of the time also tried to distance themselves from the ideology of the Soviet system and preserve the national orientation in their work. During the difficult period of statelessness, the Ukrainian ethno-art tradition was also picked up and creatively assimilated by progressive artists. Among the creative intelligentsia, there was a growing interest in the folk as an expression of the national. There have been noticeable positive changes in the restoration of the functioning of the forgotten types of Ukrainian folk art. Even in the 1970s, the Ukrainian creative elite managed to preserve its national potential.

Keywords

• ukrainian nation, ukrainians, national self-determination, national culture, ethnic artistic traditions, folk creativity, sixties, totalitarianism, soviet state, censorship