Oles Honchar in a Modern Ukrainian Documentary Cine-Text: On Spiritual Grandeur and Toughness of the Artist

Author

Mekh Nataliia

a Doctor of Philology, professor, Head of the Screen, Stage Arts and Culturology Department of the M. Rylskyi Institute of Art Studies, Folkloristics and Ethnology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (Kyiv, Ukraine). ORCID ID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5846-505X

Oles Honchar in a Modern Ukrainian Documentary Cine-Text:
On Spiritual Grandeur and Toughness of the Artist

Abstract

The article pays attention to Oles Honchar, an iconic figure of Ukrainian culture. In 2023, we celebrate the 105th anniversary of birthday of the famous Ukrainian, whose creation is relevant today and inspires descendants to be indomitable and to strive for eternal values.

Not only our, but also the entire European cultural space, in particular the cine-space, records the actualization and a request for understanding the heritage of prominent Ukrainians who created the Ukrainian culture at different times and influenced the formation of orientations and value dominants. The modern historical background – terrible and insidious aggression against Ukraine by the northern under-empire is particularly important.

Today, both Oles Ponchar’s figure and his works as a writer are worthy of attention not only by specialists in philology and cultural studies, but also of the general public. And this is due to the artist’s relay of dominant values characteristic of the Ukrainian cultural space. He is the bright representative, who in his linguistic creation demonstrates the ethical and attitudinal aspirations of the Ukrainian people, as well as its morality.

The study attempts to comprehend the modern Ukrainian documentary cine-texts on Oles Honchar, which were created prior to the Russian full-scale invasion in 2022, in particular, O. Honchar’s “The Cathedral” (1993); The Giant of Steppes;The Architect of Human Soul (2001); Oles Honchar. The Cathedral (2008); Global Star of Oles Honchar (2011); Oles Honchar. People and Their Destinies (2014). All these films are especially focused on the role, in the artist’s life, of the novel The Cathedral, which divided his life into before and after. And this is not accidental,  because the work is directed at deep meanings and philosophical reflections on the eternal, it appeals to every soul. And the latter is already the transcendental realm, that is, which is beyond the possible experience. The article also focuses on the writer’s figure in the films The Architect of Human Soul and Oles Honchar. The Cathedral.

The article’s special attention is paid to the relevance and extraordinary timeliness of such cultural products as Kateryna Strelchenko’s film Oles Honchar. The Word as a Weapon, as well as other documentary cine-texts, biopics about outstanding Ukrainians that are already available and yet to appear in our and global cultural spaces.

Keywords

Ukrainian cultural space, spiritual values, people’s ethos, value dominants, freedom, will, documentary cine-text, cine-narrative.

References

1. HONCHAR, Oles. Selected Works: In Four Volumes. Kyiv: Saccent Plus, 2005, vol. 1, 544 pp. [in Ukrainian].
2. SOSNOWSKA, Danuta. The Rejected Stone Becomes the Cornerstone. In: Volodymyr PYANOV, editor-compiler, The High Ages: Oles Honchar Turns 75: Collected Materials. Kyiv: Ukrainian Writer, 1993, 214 pp. [in Ukrainian].