Between Freedom of Spirit and Foundations of Spirituality: Ambivalence of the Image of Artist in the Dramatic Poems by Lesia Ukrainka

Abstract

The aim of the research in the article is outlined as bringing to
light the peculiarities of the interrelation between the image of artist and
philosophical problems that Lesia Ukrainka raises in her dramatic works. Owing
to methodological tools of phenomenology, hermeneutics and semiotics the article
demonstrates, how Lesia Ukrainka’s text reveals numerous controversies that arise
when trying to comprehend the essence of art and artist and in such a way
determine the ambivalence of his figure. The writer allows us to draw a conclusion
about freedom of spirit as a highest value for the creative personality, however she
also raises the question of whether art can exist in conditions of enslavement, whether it is able to glorify the culture of the colonized people or, conversely, it
promotes the development of the dominant culture. Desire for external and internal
freedom is difficult to reconcile with the artist’s needs for material livelihoods
even if one distinguishes art as earnings and as a sacred act. Lesia Ukrainka also
raises the problem of applied art and «pure beauty», art as serving to the Other
which sometimes can be accompanied by the threat for the freedom of the artist’s
thought and his identity. The biblical code proves that artistic attraction to beauty
does not contradict religious beliefs, but manifests the divine in a man. Through
the image of artist the writer encourages reflection on the complicated interplay of
body and spirit, the opposition of «dream» and everyday reality, the ability to
reconcile the creative burning and the peace of the soul as well as to find
understanding with others. Broken communicative connections with the
community cause an unmet need for the reception of the artistic work, and the lack
of an addressee provokes a loss of inspiration and feeling of loneliness. The
artist’s desire for being heard in the wider community motivates him to question
the relevance of existence of the art as «hidden treasure». Predominantly art is
perceived as an impetus to awakening of memory and a voice of modernity, as a
foundation for spirituality of the artist himself and his people. The ambivalent
image of the artist in Lesia Ukrainka’s dramas and multidimensionality of the
philosophical problems, raised in the appropriate context, prove the fact that the
essence of art and artist was not so much indisputable truth for the author as a
subject of deep intellectual searches.