Relevance Today

Although it is clear that Shevchenko was a very important figure in Ukrainian thought in the 20th century and the development of modernism in the country, his relevance is just as prominent, if not moreso, given the current crisis in Ukraine. The “two Russian nationalities” as defined by Kostomarov are coming to a head in the form of the Euromaidan crisis. The idea of liberation from the shackles of Russian oppression that were the subject of Shevchenko’s radical poetry in the 1830s and 1840s is an idea that is still present in Ukraine today, almost 200 years later.

This oppression is also seen in Shevchenko’s art that sought to break away from the tradition, and heavily Russian-influenced, artistic styles of the academies in St. Petersburg in favor of a more realist approach to depicting scenes from everyday Ukrainian life. This dedication to a realistic view of the state of affairs in Ukraine is something that is very important with regard to the crisis in Ukraine today. Though Ukraine is technically its own sovereign nation, and although the tyranny of the Soviet Union is slowly, but surely, fading into oblivion, the oppression of the Ukrainian people is still just as prominent as it was then, and perhaps even in the time of Shevchenko. The Ukrainian people’s efforts to stage public demonstrations in the public eye is founded on ideals about Ukrainian nationalism that have their origins in Kostomarov’s work, continued by that of Shevchenko, and exemplified by the break from academism that occurred in Ukrainian art in the mid-19th century. By looking at his influences, his contemporaries, and the current situation in Ukraine, it is clear that Shevchenko’s thoughts and beliefs were important developments in Ukrainian thought that still hold weight in the thoughts and actions of the people of Ukraine today.