MYKOLA KHVYLOVYI AND THE PROCESS OF CONSTRUCTING THE SOVIET IDEOLOGICAL NARRATIVE

The paper brings several publications by Mykola Khvylovyi, printed in the Ukrainian Soviet press in 1920 under the pseudonym “Uncle Mykola,” into academic circulation. It also analyzes the “Letters from the Wrangel-Makhno Front,” the first known text to bear the signature “Mykola Khvylovyi.” The study examines the role of the ‘Borotbyst’ milieu in Khvylovyi’s life, as well as the features of his journalistic and literary narratives in the context of the ideological and cultural trends of the era. Attention is given to economic and political underpinnings of the writer’s authorial discourse and its agitational aspect—particularly its orientation toward combating the internal and external enemies of Soviet power. Here lies the root of the problem of ‘Petliurism’ and ‘populism’ in Khvylovyi’s oeuvre. The writer’s desire to resist proletarian orthodoxy was often grounded in equally orthodox and questionable theses, which fueled an atmosphere of socio-cultural hostility. These tendencies can be traced in Khvylovyi’s works from early 1920 into the 1930s. Alongside the propagandistic clichés and strategies in the examined texts, the paper highlights the contrasting value orientations in Khvylovyi’s prose and poetry. The materials presented enrich his creative biography, expand our understanding of his contributions to various genres, and provide new opportunities for comparing the continuities and divergences in his writings of the 1920s and 1930s. The analysis also incorporates articles and notes by Mykhailo Yalovyi, Vasyl Ellan-Blakytnyi, and Oles Dosvitnii, as well as little-known memoirs by Vasyl Aleshko and Borys Kolos. Newspaper publications from “Selianska Bidnota” and “Visti VUTsVK” supplement bibliographic data on the works of Mykhail Semenko.