The Reconstruction of Christian Theodicy in Taras Shevchenko’s Poetry

Abstract

This article focuses on the role of Christian theodicy in Taras Shevchenko’s works. With a biography marked by trauma and suffering, it is no wonder that Shevchenko orients his poetic worldview in search of understanding the nature of evil and human suffering. Operating through a Christological model, Shevchenko arrives at a poetics based on theodicy, as a means of understanding suffering in the world. He analyses the problem of evil associated with the phenomenology of suffering within the framework of religious ethics. The works of the early period emphasize "truth and revenge", retribution, and physical punishment over the "malicious" in the spirit of Old Testament dogma. The period of Shevchenko’s exile and subsequent works is characterized by changes in moods. The theodicy of Shevchenko’s works reveals the signs of Christodicy. Shevchenko’s concept of "suffering" is theologically based, as he believes that suffering is the key to conversion to faith.