Nest “with the spirit of a beehive”: Ivan Denysiuk as theco-author of the family-biographical saga “Kosach’s noble nest”

Abstract

The purpose of the article - based on the epistolary material stored in a private
archive - is to reveal the characteristic features of the creative cooperation of the
authors Ivan Denysyuk and Tamara Skrypka in the process of writing the experimental monograph "Kosach’s Noble Nest". Methods: biographical, genetic,
comparative-historical, textual analysis.

Results. The key stages of writing a biographical research have been clarified,
the role and contribution of each literary critic has been determined, the search
trajectory of both scientists has been traced, and the archival source base has been
identified for the verification of certain facts of the Kosach family life record, the
innovation and scientific uniqueness of the research vision presented in the book has been established. In the theoretical and methodological aspect, those methodical practices and search strategies that are directly related to the interpretation of little-studied empirical material are used. The classic biographical method was used to
reveal previously unknown, primarily biographical facts and trace diverse types of
contact relationships between individual personalities. To trace the development of
the major conceptual ideas of the analysed work from its initial conception to the
completed compositional structure, we use the cognitive resources of genetic and
comparative-historical methods. The method of textual analysis is involved in the
critical assessment of individual research findings. The process of transformation of
the name of the intelligence (from “Kosach’s family saga” to “Kosach’s noble nest”), the stages of the co-author’s experience (joint publication of unknown letters of the writer, an article on establishing Lesia’s authorship of the pamphlet “Evaluation of the “Essay of the Ukrainian Social Democratic Party” and several essays on “Secrets of Zaprudya”). Conclusions. Based on the conducted analysis, it can be concluded that the authors of this phenomenal study managed to grasp the continuity of the spiritual connection of the Drahomanov-Kosach family by involving archival material, family epistolary, and personally collected testimonies of Lesia Ukrainka`s
contemporaries and her family members. For the first time, on the pages of the “Kosach’s noble nest”, the fates of all relatives entered the space of scientific understanding, and Olena Pchilka was rightly evaluated in all the multifaceted nature of her figure.