«Kobzar» Tarasa Shevchenka - tse ne lyshe zbirka virshiv ta poem, a y svoyeridnyy kulʹturnyy kod ta istorychnyy symvol Ukrayiny, shcho vidobrazhaye yiyi narodnu dushu, prahnennya svobody ta nezalezhnosti. U tsiy peredmovi vazhlyvo vidznachyty, shcho Shevchenko, yak velykyy poet i hromadsʹkyy diyach, stvoryv unikalʹnu literaturnu spadshchynu, yaka stala holosom ukrayinsʹkoho narodu u borotʹbi z istorychnymy trudnoshchamy ta utyskamy. Yoho tvorchistʹ poyednuye natsionalʹnu ideyu z hlybokoyu lyudsʹkoyu spivchuttyam, a mova i stylʹ - tse zrazky vysokoyi khudozhnʹoyi maysternosti, shcho zberihayutʹ svoyu aktualʹnistʹ i sʹohodni, nadykhayuchy novi pokolinnya shanuvalʹnykiv ukrayinsʹkoyi kulʹtury. Vidomyy amerykansʹkyy istoryk Richarda Henri Pauell pysav: "Shevchenko - tse symvol ukrayinsʹkoyi nezalezhnosti i kulʹtury, yoho poeziya ye holosom prahnennya do svobody ta hidnosti". Tsi slova pidkreslyuyutʹ znachushchistʹ Shevchenka u svitoviy kulʹturi ta yoho vplyv na ukrayinsʹku identychnistʹ.
