Vasyl Tkachuk as a promotor of ethno-national identity

Abstract

Ethno-national identity is a complex phenomenon, rich in both its structure and content. In this form of identity, both ethnic and national factors are deeply interlinked and influence each other. Vasyl Tkachuk (1916–1944) was a little-studied Ukrainian novelist, born and raised in Pokuttia and Hutsulshtchina in the first half of the 20th century. An unruly “Hutsulyk” who knew and loved his native land from an early age, made it famous in his works, and spontaneously resisted the sudden Sovietization of Western Ukraine, which cost him his life. It is therefore possible to ascertain that, based on his literary legacy, this talented novelist can be counted among the exponents of ethnonational identity. Writing as a Hutsul about the Hutsul people, their joys, sorrows, ethnic distinctiveness, and national unity, Tkachuk automatically defended both their and his own identities. This way, he confirmed his deeply rooted sense of the “little homeland” and the Ukrainian nation. To conduct the research, the hermeneutical and biographical methods were used.