Sixtiers
| Sixtiers | |
|---|---|
2019 stamp of Ukraine featuring Sixtier Ivan Svitlychnyi | |
| Years active | 1959–1965 |
| Location | Ukraine |
| Major figures | Ivan Drach, Ivan Dziuba, Alla Horska, Lina Kostenko, Borys Oliynyk, Dmytro Pavlychko, Vasyl Stus, Yevhen Sverstiuk, Vasyl Symonenko, Les Tanyuk |
| Influences | Anti-Stalinist left, Khrushchev Thaw, Ukrainian nationalism, underground culture (Ukrainian underground) |
| Part of a series on |
| Ukrainian nationalism |
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The Sixtiers (Ukrainian: Шістдесятники, romanized: Shistdesiatnyky, lit. 'people of the sixties') were а new generation of young intellectuals who reawakened literature and a sense of Ukrainian nationalism within the Soviet intelligentsia. The Sixtiers entered the cultural and political life in Ukraine during the Soviet era of late 1950s and 1960s and expressed elements of humanism, embracing Western literature, while stressing universal socialism by returning to values of Leninism.
The Sixtiers arose after the Khrushchev Thaw. Born in Ukraine between 1925 and 1945, their worldviews were formed by a series of tragedies and persecutions from their childhood including the Holodomor, Stalin's Purges and World War II. This was followed by political and historical events while many were attending University.
The Sixtiers are often seen as a "group of friends" who had a reawakening of Ukrainian nationalism. They emerged after a period of russification under Stalin and used the Thaw to explore ideals of nationalism and universal socialism. They included writers, literary critics, poets, painters, fashion designers and translators. Sixtiers drew on romantic and realist influences while stressing universal socialism by returning to Lenin's values. After 1964, many of Sixtiers faced persecution and arrest and work was smuggled out through samvydav or lost until after the fall of the Soviet Union.