The figure of Ivan Mazepa has become especially important for Ukrainian writers since his image appears to be an iconic marker in Russian-Ukrainian narratives of historical memory. From the 19th century onwards, controversial interpretations are being built around his personality in the Ukrainian and Russian intellectual space, inspired by the imperial ideological markings of the Hetman as a traitor and, to a lesser extent, by conspiracy of Mazepa’s alternative perception. In the texts of the Ukrainian authors of the twentieth century, the Hetman’s representation has grown to the anti-colonial strategy, picturing him as a symbol of resistance against the empire and as a selfless servitude to the mother state. An active interest to the figure of Ivan Mazepa in the Ukrainian diaspora humanities of the 1950s-60s was manifested both at the level of artistic interpretation and scientific reflection on the memory of the Ukrainian Hetman. At this time, a whole body of texts devoted to comprehension of the role of the Hetman in national history appears and it expands the horizons of perception of his personality. The authors of these works are Ivan Desnianskyi, Leonid Poltava, Pavel Savchuk, Mykyta Mandryka and Ivan Ohiienko. A common feature of all texts is the model of glorifying Ivan Mazepa as a fighter for freedom from imperial enslavement, and therefore emigrational mazepiana acquires a powerful anti-colonial semantic load. The appeal in the texts of the diasporic authors of the 1950s-60s to the idea of the state reflects the general interest of the whole generation, which was actively involved in the struggle for the restoration of Ukrainian statehood, but suffered a defeat. The theme of statehood acquires a powerful anti-colonial content, but in the mid-twentieth century, such a strategy could only be realized in the measure of historical retrospective, and the experience of the Mazepian era was probably the best for such an interpretation. In the Russian tradition, Mazepa has always been labeled as a traitor, while Ukrainian versions tried to overcome this imperial stereotype. In the texts of the Ukrainian emigration authors of the 1950s-60s, a model is being built, providing the change of the roles in the «traitor-victim» opposition. As a part of the anti-colonial strategy in the emigrational mazepiana of the 1950s-60s appears the expressive negative representation of the Russian imperial environment.

У статті розглядаються версії художнього моделювання образу Івана Мазепи в українській еміграційній літературі 1950-60-х років. У творах Івана Деснянського, Леоніда Полтави, Павла Савчука, Микити Мандрики та Івана Огієнка постать гетьмана проектується як борця за свободу від російського колоніального поневолення, тому діаспорна мазепіана набуває потужного антиколоніального семантичного навантаження. Водночас автори намаглися подолати імперські стереотипи, що маркували Мазепу як зрадника. Проте у творах Івана Огієнка та Леоніда Полтави вибудовується модель, яка передбачає зміну ролей в опозиції «зрадник-жертва» у контексті російсько-українських наративів минулого. Також особливе місце в контрдискурсивній репрезентації української історії посідає негація російського імперського простору.