The Birth of Kyivan Neoclassicism: From Maksym Rylsky to Mykola Zerov

Abstract

This article analyzes the genesis and formation of the neoclassical group of poets, which included Mykola Zerov, Maksym Rylsky, Pavlo Fylypovych, Mykhailo Dray-Khmara, and Oswald Burghardt (Yuriy Klen). The study examines the emergence and artistic evolution of Kyivan Neoclassicism from both the external perspectives of other literary groups and the political leadership of Soviet-occupied Ukraine, as well as from the group’s internal viewpoint. The author concludes that the Neoclassicists cannot be
strictly defined as a “school,” as each member represented a unique creative individuality transcending rigid literary conventions, despite sharing certain commonalities in style, subject matter, and genology. Instead, their literary and critical output aligns more closely with the characteristics of a literary group united by a shared ideological, aesthetic, and philosophical worldview. Overall, the creative palette of the Kyivan Neoclassicists constitutes a unique synthesis of Symbolism and Neoclassicism, enriched by traces of Neo-Romanticism in Rylsky’s work and Expressionism in the poetry of Oswald Burghardt.