The Problem of Great Literature

Viktor Petrov, known under the pseudonyms V. Ber, Borys Veriho, and V. Domontovych, was a unique and multifaceted figure. This writer, the author of «Doctor Seraficus» and «The Girl with a Bear,» a priest's son and the sixth of the Ukrainian neoclassicists, was also an emigrant and, it is believed, a spy. In addition to his literary work, he was a prominent ethnographer, philologist, publicist, and historiosopher.
His essays are a model of pure intellectualism. Stylistically masterful, they delve deeply into the history of ideas and the inner workings of culture. However, their contemporary relevance should not be denied: they are also reflections that are closely tied to a specific reality. Petrov ponders numerous problems of "great literature," analyzes the figures of Skovoroda, Kulish, and Shevchenko, and reflects on the interaction between Christianity and the modern era. He is a thinker and writer who writes with irony and defiance.

«He was respected, but not understood» said Yurii Shevelov about Petrov after the writer's mysterious disappearance from Munich in the spring of 1949. This book is an attempt to advance our understanding of the author himself and his original views and texts, revealing his multifaceted legacy.