Український селянин (Aug 2020)
М. ДРАГОМАНОВ І СЕЛЯНСЬКЕ ПИТАННЯ: ДОСВІД ПУБЛІЧНОЇ ІСТОРІЇ
Abstract
Introduction. In today’s society, the role of public dialogue is on the rise. Accordingly, radical changes are awaiting the tasks of historians aimed to improve not only the epistemological technologies of their researchers but also the ways to present the knowledge obtained. This mission is driven by a sharp increase of competition in the information market. Therefore, the practice of public history seems extremely important. In the Ukrainian case, it is also valuable because the peasantry gets into the orbit of controversy as a potential object (or subject) of complex and longlasting communication. In this case, drawing attention to M. Drahomanov’s figure is not accidental. In the latter half of the 20th century, this society figure happened to be at the heart of public debate on numerous social development issues. He was acknowledged in intellectual communities not only in Dnieper Ukraine and Halychyna, but also throughout Europe. This circumstance prompts to look at the problem, which I formulate as «Drahomanov and the peasant question». It is dictated by the increased relevance both in the period we are exploring, and nowadays. We trace the points of its bifurcation in the interaction of such phenomena as «intellectual», «peasant», «publicity». Purpose. The purpose of the exploration is to investigate the public-presentation of M. Drahomanov’s views on the peasantry (peasant question). Methods. Based on the intellectual history of the study, it is especially important that is requires a rather complex model of involvement, optimization and combination of epistemological categories of the cultural sphere, and at the same time many subjectsobjects of history. Results. In the second half of the nineteenth century the peasant question bothered all Ukrainian figures who felt a call to serving the people. M. Drahomanov was distinguished among the rest by his education, scale and depth of thinking, as well as a high (as at that time) public presentation of his views. Many of them were related to the peasant question in one way or another, but in a very special one, as we were able to find out. Relying on the cultural and national enlightenment of people, he had a little regard for the simplistic-emotional nature of the perception of his ideas by the peasants themselves. Originality. Taking into account numerous, though «scattered into separate autonomous groups», arguments about the peasantry, without exaggerating the vast array of historiography of the problem, as well as guided by the best examples of interpretation of the era and its tendencies, the author came to the conclusion: the specificity of M. Drahomanov’s interpretation due to his special understanding of another issue – the national one. Concerning the publicity of the presentation of his views, Drahomanov was well known for the fact that his works were widely read, discussed, praised or/ conversely criticized by intellectuals with varied professional backgrounds, and most importantly – by different identities. To some extent, it hindered the development of synthetic works that would conceptually explain the scientist’s attitude to the «peasant question». Conclusion. M. Drahomanov saw the solution of the ripe social problems mainly in the plane of functioning of the intellectual and political activities, leaving the demographic, urbanization, spiritual and national potential of the peasantry aloof. Interest in these aspects determines the prospects for further research
