The Correspondence of Ludvik Kuba with Andronyk Stepovychиas a Source for the Research of Czech-Ukrainian Cultural Communications

Abstract

The article analyzes the correspondence of prominent Czech folklorist and painter Ludvik Kuba (1863–1956) with Ukrainian philologist, specialist in Slavic languages and literature, teacher Andronyk Stepovych (1856/1857–1935). This epistolary complex, which is currently stored in the Manuscript Institute of the National Library of Ukraine named after V. I. Vernadskyi, includes 74 letters sent by Ludvik Kuba to Andronyk Stepovych over a long period of time — from 1884 to 1935, with a break from 1899 to 1924 and contains valuable materials related to Czech-Ukrainian cultural communications of the end of the 19th — the first third of the 20th century: collection and publication of musical folklore monuments, Andronyk Stepovych’s travels to Czechia and Ludvik Kuba to Ukraine, exchange of printed publications, cooperation with publishing houses, scientific and public institutions. These letters also indicate attention to the study of Slavic languages as a prerequisite for cultural relations. They are about the influence of socio-political events and processes on the lifestyle of intellectuals and artists, as well as their dependence on the market conditions of printed products and works of art. In addition, these texts provide important evidence for the study of the emotional and intellectual components of interpersonal communication expressed through the epistolary genre of written culture. The author believes that a closer acquaintance of the scientific community with Ludvik Kuba’s correspondence with Andronyk Stepovych can be useful for researching sociocultural processes in Central-Eastern Europe at the personal level, as well as clarifying the importance of folkloristics, linguistics, and literary studies in these processes. Therefore, a scientific publication of this epistolary complex seems desirable.