Taras Shevchenko (1814–1861) is the Ukrainian national poet—and a national icon. He articulates a millenarian vision of national emancipation that is still broadly perceived as prophetic, i.e., fulfilling the teleology of national identity. As early as 1879, Mykhailo Drahomanov, the outstanding Ukrainian thinker of the nineteenth century, could argue that virtually every political or pre-political Ukrainian movement sought to claim Shevchenko as its patron. His cult was inevitable. It rested on the numinous cast of his poetry, the all but religious impact it had on his broad audience, and was a product of underlying collective values and the emerging politics of populism. A rethinking of Shevchenko's work, however, especially the interaction of its various modalities—his poetry,…
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Citation: Grabowicz, George G.. "Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 22 May 2018 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=13029, accessed 23 November 2024.]