Bohdan Ihor Antonych – openly and incognito on Bohdan Ihor Antonych

Abstract

This article describes the involvement of the eminent Ukrainian poet Bohdan Ihor Antonych (1909–1937) in the Lviv press of the 1930s. It analyses his publications, in which he, both openly (under his own surname) and incognito (under various pseudonyms and cryptonyms, including dan, Dan Antonych, Zoil, and Mgr. Yorik), analysed his poems and engaged in polemics with contemporary critics regarding the evaluation of his works. It has been established that, by explaining his own poetry in articles, interviews and self-reviews, B. I. Antonych not only refuted claims that he was an «incomprehensible» poet but also helped popularise his work and skilfully promoted it. The study reveals that B. I. Antonych’s popularity was fostered not only by his poetic works but also by his original literary and theoretical art criticism articles, thanks to which he became a prominent creative and media figure in Lviv in the 1930s. B. I. Antonych’s popularity was fostered not only by his poetic works but also by his original literary-critical and theoretical art-historical articles, which enabled him to become a prominent creative and media figure in Lviv in the 1930s. This was also facilitated by parodies, epigrams, cartoons and caricatures of him and his works, which appeared in humorous-satirical and literary-artistic publications. The targets of parody and ridicule were his metaphorical poems and his collaboration with periodicals of various ideological orientations, including nationalist, liberal, and Catholic («Vistnyk», «Vohni», «Nazustrich», «Dzvony»).