Oleksa Storozhenko (24 November 1806, Lysohory,

Chernihiv region Chernihiv Oblast ( uk, Черні́гівська о́бласть, translit=Chernihivska oblast; also referred to as Chernihiv Oblast#Nomenclature, Chernihivshchyna, uk, Черні́гівщина, translit=Chernihivshchyna) is an administra ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

– 6 November 1874, Berestia,

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

) was a

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

writer,

anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...

and

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

. Storozhenko began writing in the 1850s. Many of his works are based on

Ukrainian folklore Ukrainian folklore is the folk tradition which has developed in Ukraine and among ethnic Ukrainians. The earliest examples of folklore found in Ukraine is the layer of pan-Slavic folklore that dates back to the ancient Slavic mythology of the Easte ...

and stories from lives of Ukrainian peasants. He initially wrote in Russian. In 1861 Oleksa Storozhenko became known as Ukrainian-language writer. His works were published in ''Osnova'' journal (Ukrainian journal published in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

). However, measures undertaken by the Imperial Russia's agencies enforcing the ''

Valuev Circular The Valuev Circular (russian: Валуевский циркуляр, Valuyevskiy tsirkulyar; uk, Валуєвський циркуляр, Valuievs'kyi tsyrkuliar) of 18 July 1863 was a decree (ukaz) issued by Pyotr Valuev (Valuyev), Minister of I ...

'' (a legal decree reflecting persecution against the

Ukrainian language Ukrainian ( uk, украї́нська мо́ва, translit=ukrainska mova, label=native name, ) is an East Slavic language of the Indo-European language family. It is the native language of about 40 million people and the official state langu ...

) became the reason why Oleksa Storozhenko had to continue his writings in Russian. Storozhenko's style of writing is marked by earthy Ukrainian language and picturesque representation of the folk proverbs, anecdotes, sayings and songs. The leading topics of his works are: Ukrainians’ everyday life, customs, folklore and demonological believes, historical events, particularly kozaks and

Zaporozhian Sich The Zaporozhian Sich ( ua, Запорозька Січ, ; also uk, Вольностi Вiйська Запорозького Низового, ; Free lands of the Zaporozhian Host the Lower) was a semi-autonomous polity and proto-state of Co ...

. Novella ''Zakokhanyi Chort'' (Devil in Love) and novel ''Marko Prokliatyi'' (Damned Marko) are fine examples of Gothic-Romantic literature. Literary critics find parallel between Storozhenko's ''Devil in Love'' and '' Le Diable Amoureux'' (''The Devil in Love'', 1772) by the French

gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

author,

Jacques Cazotte Jacques Cazotte (; 17 October 1719 – 25 September 1792) was a French author. Life Born in Dijon, he was educated by the Jesuits. Cazotte then worked for the French Ministry of the Marine and at the age of 27 he obtained a public office at Mar ...

.Krys, Svitlana, 2011,
Storozhenko’s Tale about The Devil in Love: Folklorism in Ukrainian Gotho-Romantic Prose
' in ''FOLKLORICA'', Vol. XVI, pp.117-138. 1858 – ''Rasskazy iz Krestyanskogo Byta Malorossiian'' (Stories from the Peasant Life of Little Russians). 1857 – ''Bratiya Bliznetsy'' (Twin Brothers; historical novel). 1861 – ''Zakokhanyi Chort'' (Devil in Love) 1863 – ''Ukrainski Opovidannia'' (Ukrainian Stories; a two-volume collection of short stories, which author wrote in 1850, was published in Saint-Petersburg). 1870 – ''Marko Prokliatyi'' (Damned Marko; gothic novel, unfinished) Оnly two first chapters of the novel were published during Storozhenko's life (''Pravda'' (The Truth)

Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...

, 1870). Storozhenko's other titles include: ''Vchy linyvoho ne molotom a holodom'' (Teach the Lazy Man not by Hammer but by Hunger), ''Mezhyhorodskyi did'' (The Old Man from Mezhyhorod), ''Vusy'' (The Moustache), ''Holka'' (The Needle) and ''Matusyne Blahoslovennia'' (Mother's Blessing).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Storoshenko, Oleksa 1806 births 1874 deaths Ukrainian male writers Ukrainian anthropologists