Shortly after Taras Shevchenko ended his time as a student at the art academies, he joined an illegal political society called the Brotherhood of Saints Cyril and Methodius. His activity with the brotherhood was led to his eventual exile, with the publication of his poem “The Dream” leading Nicholas I to call for his imprisonment. Many of the anti-slavophile themes that Shevchenko developed in “The Dream” can trace their origins to the thoughts and writings of the brotherhood’s founder, Nikolay Kostomarov.
In Kostomarov’s famous essay “Two Russian Nationalities”, he identifies a separation between the Russians and the ethnically Ukrainian people, and one of the main tenets of the Brotherhood of Saints Cyril and Methodious was the liberalization of the Ukrainian people from the tyranny of the Russian Empire. In Shevchenko’s poem “The Dream”, this call for the separation of the ethnic Ukrainians from the Russian Empire is evidenced in lines referencing a “fervent patriot” who “so deeply loves his native land”.
There is also an interesting shift present in the state of the Ukrainian language in the comparison of Kostomarov and Shevchenko. Although Kostomarov is best-known for his historical and political works, he also wrote collections of poetry that were known for their use of phrasing from traditional Ukrainian folk songs. Shevchenko’s literary output, on the other hand, has led many to refer to him as the “founder of the Modern Ukrainian language”. Although Kostomarov and Shevchenko sought to achieve the same Ukrainian nationalism and separation from Russia, as evidenced by their membership to the same society, their difference in language represents a shift in Ukrainian nationalism from one concerned with Ukraine’s heritage, to one that is equally concerned with its future moving forward.
"Kostomarov, Mykola." Kostomarov, Mykola. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2014.
"The My Hero Project - Nikolay Ivanovich Kostomarov." Myhero.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2014.
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