Fragility, Impermanence and Passing in the Small Prose of Lesya Ukrainka

Abstract

Despite all that is known about Lesya Ukrainka, one of the Ukraine’s most prominent poets at the turn of the 20th century, as a tireless promoter of the national spirit and a visionary feminist, we can’t diminish the importance of existential motifs in her works.
The contrast between the strength of spirit and weakness of the body, the core motif of most of her poetic works, is not fully visible in the unique small prose of the great artist. One might be tempted to say that Lesya Ukrainka’s prose, though very different in terms of genres, is united by the themes of fragility, impermanence and passing, the essence of which is perfectly reflected in the guiding idea of the Ecclesiastes – Vanitas vanitatum et omnia vanitas.
This paper analyzes the different approaches to the Vanitas motif on the basis of prose works chosen from Lesya Ukrainka’s anthology З людської намови.