Формування та еволюція образу Богдана Хмельницького у творчості Людвіка Кубалі

Abstract

In this scientific paper at the first time the historiographical tradition of studying the characteristic of B. Khmelnytsky's image in the interpretation of the famous Polish Historian L. Kubala was analysed and summarized. In L. Kubala’s studies, B. Khmelnitsky was a significant character. Most of the researchers who drew attention to the image of the Cossack hetman in the historian’s works emphasized the complexity and controversy of this character. The views of the Polish historian by B. Khmelnytsky's figures are mainly static, that is, without changing. Most historians touched on this problem in the context of more specific problems or in synthetic reviews of the history of events of the region, of which L. Kubala had written. An interesting attempt to analyse the general image of B. Khmelnitsky in the works of the Polish historian was done by A. Tkachuk. The author noticed the difference in the image of B. Khmelnitsky in the first two volumes of «Historical essays» and in later studies.

As a result of this article was singled out two stages of the formation and change of the image of B. Khmelnitsky in the work of L. Kubala. The first works mostly were based on the Polish sources, like chronicles Y. Rudavsky, V. Kohhovsky, J. Yerlich, which did not describe the person and activities of the Cossack Hetman in a positive way. Therefore, L. Kubala, following to the source, depicted B. Khmelnitsky mostly as an enemy. Also, the influence on his scientific works L. Kubal's dramatic heritage cannot be ignored. With a high degree of probability, it is possible to assume that the drama characteristics of B. Khmelnytsky were transferred to essays from unpublished drama «Rus» («Bogdan Khmelnytsky»). That influence could be confirmed by the presence in the scientific works of author's empathy and the formation of a structure «hero-antihero» in the «Historical Essays».

The second stage of the historian's research was marked by a changing of approach to writing essays and expanding of the source base by Cossack origin sources. In particular, the number of used materials from «AYZR» has considerably increased. Introduction of these materials affected on the historian's perception of Hetman and his activity. As a confirmation of such changing could be an author rejection from the emphasis on of an enemy image to the image of a statesman. Also, L. Kubala tried to present in his works comparisons of views on the activity of B. Khmelnytsky from both opposing representatives.