ABSTRACT
After the Socialist Revolution radical transformations took place in the economy and intellectual life of Ukraine. The country was claiming its national status and, inspired by the dream of national liberation, Ukrainians put the question of cultural development at the top of their agenda. Many literary organizations were founded, among them the vanguard VAPLITE (Vil’na Akademiya Proletars’ koi literatury [Free Academy of Proletarian Literature])1 led by leftist writers in alliance with The Neo-classicist, a traditionally-minded group of scholars and poets, that put forward a programme for the cultural and literary development of the country challenging the Russian hegemony in Ukraine.2
