Language and Literature
In 1839, Maksymovych published his History of Old Russian Literature which dealt with the so-called Kievan period of Russian literature, considered by Ukrainians to be the initial stage of Ukrainian literature as well. Maksymovych saw a definite continuity between the language and literature of Kievan Rus' and that of Cossack and modern Ukraine. Indeed, he seems to have thought that the Old Ukrainian language stood in relation to modern Russian in a way similar to that of Old Czech to modern Polish or modern Slovak; that is, that one influenced but was not the same as the other. Later on, he also translated the epic Tale of Igor's Campaign into both modern Russian and modern Ukrainian verse.
Maksymovych's literary works included poetry and almanacs with much material devoted to Ukraine. One of his poems was dedicated to his fellow "Ukrainian national awakener", the poet and painter, Taras Shevchenko, whose premature death made a great impression on him.
Read more about this topic: Mykhaylo Maksymovych
Famous quotes containing the words language and/or literature:
“A mind enclosed in language is in prison.”
—Simone Weil (1909–1943)
“Just as it is true that a stream cannot rise above its source, so it is true that a national literature cannot rise above the moral level of the social conditions of the people from whom it derives its inspiration.”
—James Connolly (1870–1916)