CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL UNITY OF UKRAINE WITH EUROPE: THE PHENOMENON OF EDUCATIONAL AND INTELLECTUAL COMMUNITIES IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE XVI – XVII CENTURIES

Abstract

Summary. The purpose of the article is to analyze the cultural and historical prerequisites for the formation of a pan-European space of being in Ukraine in the second half of the 16th and 17th centuries, during the first cultural and national revival. The range of research tasks is outlined by the need to clarify the role of associations, societies, and spiritual communities of the Ukrainian elite in the establishment of cultural and historical unity with Europe, in the spread of the European in content (combined with the Orthodox-Slavic) system of values. The methodological basis of the research are cognitive principles and methods, on the basis of which the phenomenon of educational, intellectual communities and societies is studied, the peculiarities of their spiritual activity in the second half of the XVI – XVII centuries, and their role in the establishment of European dimensions of life in Ukraine is clarified. It is primarily about the principle of unity of theoretical and historical, as well as heuristic possibilities of activity, communicative, cultural and anthropological approaches. The use of historical reconstruction of socio-cultural reality is important for achieving the main research objectives. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the conclusion about the integration of Ukrainian culture into the pan-European process. It was established that the formation of a single historical European space in the second half of the 16th and 17th centuries was an essential prerequisite, was the activity of Ukrainian intellectuals and the spiritual elite aimed at spreading education and knowledge. It is taken into account that the cultural forms of life of European origin were filled with national meaning. Conclusions. It is substantiated that the fact of the existence and activity of cultural and educational associations, gatherings, and societies in the second half of the XVI – XVII centuries is an example of the entry of the Ukrainian community into the pan- Slavic and pan-European space. This was evidence of the beginning of European integration processes in the history of Ukrainian culture. The perception by the Ukrainian elite of values of European origin while preserving the Orthodox-Russian foundations of life opened up a perspective for a dialogue between European and Ukrainian cultural traditions.