SOCIAL-ECONOMIC POSITION OF DROHOBYCH COUNTY IN THE LAST QUARTER OF THE XIX – FOREPART OF THE XX CENTURY: AFTER THE MATERIALS OF PLOT LINES OF STEFAN KOVALIV’S IMAGINATIVE PROSE

Abstract

In the article on the basis of Stefan Kovaliv’s fiction the peculiarities of social-economic position of Drohobych County in the last quarter of the XIX – forepart of the XX century is highlighted. During the study of Stefan Kovaliv’s creative heritage it has been established that he was then known not only as a writer and pedagogue, but also as an educationalist, author of school handbooks, publicist and public and political activist. In his creative heritage S. Kovaliv had left much information on the social-economic life of Drohobych county inhabitants, functioning of oil industry, establishment of the working class in the whole Eastern Galicia. Franko in his time called «the poet Galician California».

In the process of the conducted research it became obvious that the time of acquaintance of Kovaliv and Franko falls on the first half of the 1980s. In fact, it is from that time a tight friendship joined them and Franko himself took an active part in instigating S. Kovaliv to study in depth the social processes which took place in the reality of Drohobych county and to write various kinds of works in the aforemention topic.

S. Kovaliv’s fiction in which the social-economic position of Drohobych County inhabitants are narrative by character, whereas by the form of presentation of plot material they resemble sketches sharply and impressively representing the facts which the writer himself observed in his country. He are united by a common theme, which they depict from different sides, which fact in its turn creates a wide view of the depicted phenomena. S. kovaliv’s work are united by the content and motives which on the whole pepresent the tragedy of a human individuality in that time society, demonstrate causes and effects off these problems, etc. As a matter of fact, in each his work Kovaliv touches the problem of desire for enrichment, which leads to moral degradation of many strata of that time society in the region under consideration. By his words, that time village of Boryslav in a short while became a town with large oil factories. The main driving force of this process in Kovaliv’s opinion, was the fact that cunning undertakers together with crafty tradesmen took the land from the peasants by which they turned them into a main exploited labour in the process of their own enrichment. Kovaliv’s artistic narratives about his lsand attract readers with plenty of vivid impressions and bright descriptions, thus, allowing the reader truthfully to see the economical and social conditions under which Drohobych county was in real llife in the last quarter of the XIX – beginning of the XX century.