Overseas Ukrainians in the Soviet Life of Valerian Polishchuk

Abstract

The vision of Ukraine as a national and cultural unity within ethnic Ukrainian lands not only did not disappear from the Polishchuk’s works in the Soviet period but was purposefully advanced in his multi-genre cultural practices. Establishing creative contacts with émigré writers as well as Polishchuk’s concept of a literary radio magazine became one of the most important directions of this activity. The article examines the connections of V. Polishchuk with émigré artists Volodymyr Vynnychenko, Mykyta Shapoval, Oleksandr Oles, and Pavlo Kovzhun. Analyzing their contacts, the author finds the permanent need for writers on different sides of the Soviet border to maintain a creative dialogue. The beginning for the dialogue was laid in the pre-Soviet period, that is, in the times of the UNR/Hetmanate/Directorate. In order to delegitimize the activities of Ukrainian political emigration, the idea of “two Ukraines”, Soviet and émigré, appeared in the Soviet discourse of the first half of the 1920s. Despite the use of rhetoric about the existence of “two Ukraines”, the main strategy of V. Polishchuk was not separation, but the combination of the proletarian image of Ukraine with national feelings and literary traditions. In a number of his publications, Polishchuk paid particular attention to the centers of Ukrainian cultural life outside the jurisdiction of the Soviet government (Lviv, Prague) investigating the life of foreign societies and artists. His texts about foreign countries were full of genuine interest. But with all frankness, part of Polishchuk’s biography remained outside the official pro-Soviet discourse, existing in understatements, hints, subtexts. However, we can consider the pre-Soviet period of Polishchuk’s biography as the main factor that influenced his views on the nationally determined Ukrainian cultural identity within the united Ukrainian territories.