The Poetry of Bohdan-Ihor Antonych and Zuzanna Ginczanka in the Context of European Modernism

Abstract

This article compares the poetry of two prominent modern writers: Polish-Jewish poetess Zuzanna Ginczanka (Sara Ginzburg, 1917–1945), and Ukrainian Lemko poet Bohdan-Ihor Antonych (1909–1937). They are believed (by Yaroslav Polishchuk et al.) to have certain poetic, stylistic, thematic, and literary similarities. The main discourses of their poetic imaginum mundi are studied with the use of a simple formula that includes five components. Tracing the interplay of nature, childhood, religion, and civilization in the development of an image of a holistic personality in their poetry, I analyze their common and differing ideas, images, motifs, and themes. The article also outlines the underlying similarities of both poets, i. e., their otherness, and their references to childhood as a certain place in their poetry.