Big in small and small in big
Plyushch O. Works: [In 2 vols.]. Vol. 2 / [compiled by I. Lypa]. Odesa: published by the Ukrainian Literary Union. Printing house of Y. Fesenko, 1911 (published in 1912). 163, [4] p.
The second volume of “Works” of Oleksiy Plyushch (1887 1907), a Ukrainian writer, poet, playwright, and representative of the young intelligentsia of the early twentieth century, published by the Odesa Literary Union (O. L. U.), contains one of the largest and deepest prose works in the author's legacy, a story in two parts with an epilogue “The Great in the Small and the Small in the Great”. This work is a vivid example of philosophical and psychological prose of the early twentieth century, marked by emotional tension, intellectual reflections, and painful search for truth. The story continues the development of the theme of the inner drama of the individual, his clash with cruel reality, social injustice, and the restriction of freedom of spirit, which is characteristic of Plyushch.
The title of the work contains an artistic paradox that reflects the key idea: the complexity of human nature, where high aspirations can coexist with deep doubts, and sincerity of feelings with the tragedy of disappointment. The work is influenced by the ideas of liberal folk art, as well as the aesthetics of impressionism and symbolism, which gives the story a special emotional expressiveness and internal tension.
The publication was compiled by the writer, publisher, physician, public and political figure Ivan Lypa (1685 1923), who also initiated the publication of the creative heritage of Oleksiy Plyushch.
The second volume is an important link in understanding the literary phenomenon of Plyushch as a representative of the “tragic generation” of Ukrainian intellectuals and is valuable for researchers of psychological prose and the national idea in Ukrainian literature of the early twentieth century.