Azerbaijan mission of Ukrainian: Mykola Myroshnychenko as a poet, translator, literature explorer
Authors: Honcharuk Maryna 
Published: December 2023

The article examines the role of the prominent Ukrainian translator and researcher of Azerbaijani literature, Mykola Miroshnychenko, in the development of bilateral dialogue between our peoples in various spheres. The author considers the role of the individual as a key and unique resource for the development of relations between countries that have only restored their state independence after decades of Soviet occupation, the destruction of the mechanisms of creating a unique state, cultural, and diplomatic space peculiar to the Ukrainian and Azerbaijani peoples; who learn to build bilateral dialogue, establish cooperation in various sectors, including literature, culture, and journalism. The relevance of the article lies in the lack of research into the figure of Miroshnychenko as a Ukrainian translator, a researcher of Azerbaijani literature and its heritage in the context of the revival of the Ukrainian-Azerbaijani dialogue and the presence of certain crisis processes, such as a crisis of competence, quality of work and expertise of self-proclaimed researchers of cultural relations between our countries.
The phenomenon of Ukrainian-Azerbaijani studies (in the context of which the figure of M. Miroshnychenko is considered) is characterized as a constant, long-lasting process, with its own traditions and values, the formation of which was made by the outstanding Mykola Gulak, Oleksandr Navrotskyi, Lev Lopatynskyi, Agatangel Krymskyi, Leonid Pervomaiskyi, Valery Marchenko , Pavlo Movchan, etc.
The main achievements of Mykola Miroshnychenko as a Ukrainian translator of Azerbaijani literature are named: the development of Ukrainian Azerbaijani studies as a phenomenon in Ukrainian literature and science, the continuation of the traditions of the outstanding M. Gulak, A. Krymskyi, etc., the actualization of their achievements; systematization and research of large volumes of translation and scientific works, selection of high-quality and competent ones; development of dialogue between writers, literary experts, journalists of Ukraine and Azerbaijan; translation of dozens of Azerbaijani poets to Ukrainian, both classics and modern authors.
The author emphasizes the reasons for the exceptional value and significance of Miroshnychenko's works: unlike many Ukrainian translators from Azerbaijani, Mykola Mykolovych perfectly mastered the Azerbaijani language (as well as Turkish, Old Turkish, Crimean Tatar) and constantly improved his knowledge of literature, culture, history, customs and traditions of Azerbaijanis, without which it is impossible to carry out a highly artistic translation of both modern literature and classics that wrote their texts under the influence of complex mystical and philosophical currents; the researcher devoted more than thirty years of his life to Azerbaijani studies, which culminated in the fundamental two-volume "Anthology of Azerbaijani Poetry", which was published in 2006 and to this day remains the main work that represents Azerbaijani literature in Ukrainian translations at a high artistic level.
The article outlines a number of tasks that must be implemented in order to continue the work of M. Miroshnychenko and the qualitative development of literary relations between our countries: publication of manuscripts of translations from Azerbaijani that never saw the light of day during the translator's lifetime due to lack of funding; publication of author's poetry collections, in particular, a series of poems dedicated to Azerbaijan; development of dialogue platforms for discussion and analysis of the heritage of the poet, translator and researcher between specialists of Ukraine and Azerbaijan.