Larkovich D.V.
TO A QUESTION OF THE MODALITY IN THE LYRIC POET T.G. SHEVCHENKO OF THE PERIOD OF THE ORENBURG REFERENCE ^{[№ 3 ' 2017]}
The period of Orenburg exile (1847–1857), which is comparable to the previous and following stages of Shevchenko`s creative activity in its length and the volume of written works, became an significant milestone for the development of his creative individuality. Although the forced isolation partly restricted his opportunities to contact with the outer cultural environment, it enabled him to acquire invaluable life experience that served as a powerful impulse towards the development of his authorial intentions. Despite “the strictest control with the prohibition to write and draw” Shevchenko wrote more than 100 poetic works during his Orenburg exile period. The prevailing part of poems is of meditative character, where the poet strives to reveal the reasons of the dramatic events in his life. The poetry of this period is marked by the mood of doomed sadness and a sinking feeling of longing for Ukraine bringing about nostalgic reminiscence, wistful brooding over its past and present. The personalistic base of Shevchenko`s lyrical discourse characterized by a clearly expressed subjective position and strong personal tone becomes significantly stronger. The personal feelings of the poet inspired by the arrest and exile encouraged authorial expressiveness asserting personality as the highest spiritual value. The idea of the doleful fate of a person in Shevchenko`s works often takes the form of prayer-theomachist discourse and acquires the scale of ontological generalization. Striving to reveal the reasons of the dramatic events in his life the poet comes to the conclusion that a person`s life is determined by some transpersonal circumstances, however, it doesn`t lessen the level of his moral responsibility. M.Yu. Lermontov`s creative experience, with which Shevchenko holds a creative dialogue in his exile period, fastens in Shevchenko`s mind the idea that the conscious status of a poet as an oracle of the Highest Truth doesn`t just reinforce the degree of this responsibility but also makes a tragic impact on the fate of its bearer.