Abstract
Introduction. The article is motivated by the opinion that in the metatext of Ukrainian artistic prose of the 20-ies of the XX century the East / West problem was actualized. Images of East and West are presented as artistic components of the philosophical and aesthetic paradigm of the "Asian Renaissance", which is associated with the great prospects for Ukraine's development. In this context, the literary works by Mykola Khvylovy, Ivan Dneprovsky, Yuri Yanovsky and others are analyzed. Purpose. To reveal the essence and discernment of the East / West and Ukraine in the metatext of artistic prose of the 20s of the twentieth century. Results. The theme of the East and West is artistically realized in the works of Ukrainian writers of the first decades of the twentieth century, but it is most widely and interestingly represented in the Vaplite literary discourse. Eastern and Western episodes are read as realistic sketches and, at the same time, are marked by a symbolic convention. In vain, some of the critics of that time reproached writers for the detachment of their works of art from the real national soil, for lack of social issues and self-contained excitement. The images of East and West in the metatext of literature of the romanticism of Vitaism are presented as artistic elements of the philosophical and aesthetic paradigm of the "Asian Renaissance", which is associated with the great prospects for Ukraine's development. At the same time, writers specially collect the type and traditions-national details from the real-time life (language, customs, peculiarities of the steppe Ukraine, etc.) that they needed for artistic creation of the picture of the Ukrainian world as a kind of spatialmental paradigm of Eurasia and a universal territorial-spiritual micro-galaxy. Many examples of this are given by Y. Yanovsky, O. Dosvitnyi, M. Yohansen, I. Dnieper, and M. Khvylovyi, in the texts of which repeatedly reveal the images that embody the concept of "Asian Renaissance". The image of Ukraine is artistically modeled as a harmonious synthesis of the West and the East. The old world in the artistic text is an old, outdated, "twilight" Europe, while the new world originates on Ukrainian soil, among the vast "endless steppes." In this context, the "old" receives an ambivalent assessment: it is experience, professionalism, developed, cultivated culture, artistic tradition and, at the same time, it is emptiness, fatigue, exhaustion of forces. "New" is also associated with all "Ukrainian", which is characterized as positive, desirable.Originality. In the metatext of Ukrainian artistic prose of the 20s of the 20th century, the idea of the Asian Renaissance, which manifests itself through the disclosure of the East / West and Ukraine, is artistically embodied. Conclusion. The Eastern paradigm in the artistic prose of the 20th century of the twentieth century is specified and linked within the dichotomy of East / West with the idea of awakening the vitality, the enthusiasm of the empowerment of overcoming external and internal slavery and predetermining the prospects of a new civilization. The West, however, coincides with the paradigm of the "twilight" of Europe, causes the perception of the collapse of civilization, which has been caused by irreparable destruction in it of all spiritual content and values. The image of Ukraine is artistically modeled as a harmonious synthesis of the West and the East.
