Positivism as theoretical component of Ivan Franko’s researches in folklore studies

Abstract

The Article is dedicated to clarifying the role of ideas of Positivism as theoretical-methodological bases of Folklore studies by one of the prominent Ukrainian figures – Ivan Franko (1856 – 1916). The relevance of the topic under study is due to the fact that this year marks the 170th anniversary of his birth and the 110th anniversary of his death. I. Franko's folkloristic works and research about him allow us to pose the problem of scientists choosing Positivism as the basis for relevant scientific research. Objective of the article is discovering I. Franko's ideas close to Positivism at the beginning of his scientific career, and then, taking into account the achievements of other scientists, to reveal the role of Positivism in his Folkloristics. Methods. To illustrate the ideas of I. Franko and modern Ukrainian scientists, the method of Doxography in the form of Citation was used. Functional Analysis allowed us to identify the place of the ideas of Positivism in I. Franko's Folkloristics, and Comparative Analysis allowed us to clarify the positions of researchers of his scientific heritage. The method of obtaining conclusions was Analytical-Synthetic. Results. In this Article was found that I. Franko was interested in Folklore since adolescence, and one of his first scientific works sets the requirement of Realism of Art. Investigating various samples of Literature and works of Oral Folk Art, the scientist consistently considered them as phenomena that are quite suitable for scientific study, by analogy with Natural Science. The result of I. Franko's Folklore Studies is the requirement of critical study of works of Oral Folk Literature according to the requirements of the Cultural-Historical School in its positivist version, formulated by H. Tain. Conclusions. 1. Partly independently, but decisively under the influence of Mykhaylo Dragomanov, Ivan Franko mastered the theoretical ideas of early Positivism as methodological foundations for his own research in the field of Humanities in general and Folklore Studies in particular. 2. The scientists' involvement in the ideas of other Folklore Schools: Mythological, Anthropological, Migrational, Comparative, and Philological, was done with the aim of supplementing the achievements of the first Positivism, in the circle of which the Cultural-Historical School received a new life at the turn of 1870 – 1880. The content of Franko's Folklore Studies was the study of samples of Oral Folk Art by analogy with natural phenomena and with the application of Evolutionary Theory. 3. Modern Ukrainian scientists are unanimous in the fact that the ideas of Positivism in the form given to them by the Cultural-Historical School are the key theoretical and methodological foundations of Ivan Franko's searches in the Folklore Studies. The prospects for further research on the topic relevant to this article lie in studying the peculiarities of the theoretical foundations of Ivan Franko's searches in various branches of the Humanities.