East/West: Journal of Ukrainian Studies
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Ризиковане планування перекладів українською на початку 1930-х років з огляду на формування радянського канону перекладної літератури
No full textBased on an analysis of archival documents, this paper illuminates a part of Ukrainian history with which anglophone readers may be unfamiliar. This study, overall, makes the case that translation is in fact an integral part of Ukrainian cultural history, not merely an addition to it. This paper examines the typescripts of three lists of foreign literary works recommended for translation and publication in the early 1930s that the author recently found in the archives of the Hryhorii Kochur Literary Museum in Irpin: “Spysok tvoriv chuzhozemnykh literatur, shcho ïkh bazhano pereklasty v pershu cherhu” (“A List of Works of Foreign Literature That Should Be Translated First”) along with its introductory note “Do sektora ‘Literatury i Mystetstva’” (“To the Literature and Art Section”); “Literaturna biblioteka: Proekt plianu” (“Literary Library: Draft Plan”); and “Biblioteka suchasnoї svitovoї literatury: Prospekt” (“Library of Modern World Literature: Prospectus”). This paper discusses both the bright and the dark sides of the planning of translations of texts into the Ukrainian: the analyzed lists, simultaneously, testify to the flourishing of the translation industry in Ukraine at the turn of the 1920s and 1930s and display the Bolshevik regime’s increasing suppression of freedom of choice in translation. The discussion focuses on the contents of each list (that is, choices of authors and works) from an anthropological point of view, exploring the reflection of the literary and cultural tastes and demands of early Soviet Ukrainian society as seen in the publishing plans of leading Ukrainian experts on world literature of their time. These publishing plans were later directed and limited by Soviet censorship on the eve of the mass political purges in the USSR.У статті аналізуються машинописні рукописи трьох списків творів зарубіжної літератури, рекомендованих до перекладу та видання на початку 1930-х років, нещодавно знайдені автором в архіві Літературного музею Григорія Кочура в Ірпені. Ці списки літератури, запланованої до видання, мали такі назви: 1) Список творів чужоземних літератур, що їх бажано перекласти в першу чергу; 2) Літературна бібліотека. Проект плану; 3) Бібліотека сучасної світової літератури. Проспект. З трьох текстів лише один уже опублікований нинішнім автором, а два інших, упорядниками яких були відповідно Микола Зеров і Володимир Державин, готуються до друку. У статті розглядаються як світлі, так і темні сторони планування перекладів українською мовою, оскільки досліджені списки водночас свідчать про розквіт перекладацької справи в Україні на межі 1920-1930-х років і, більшою чи меншою мірою, мають перші риси дедалі більшого придушення більшовицьким режимом вільного вибору твору для перекладу. Дискусія зосереджена на змісті кожного зі списків, тобто виборі авторів і творів – з антропологічної точки зору – як відображення літературних і культурних смаків та запитів ранньорадянського українського суспільства, втілених у видавничі плани провідних українських знавців світової літератури свого часу, обмежені й скеровані радянською цензурою напередодні масових політичних чисток в СРСР
George Yurii Shevelov as a Historian of the Ukrainian Language
Full text linkAn introduction to the English-language translation of an article authored by Iurii Shevel\u27ov (George Y. Shevelov) on the origins of the Ukrainian language
Operational Groups of the NKGB and a Reconstruction of the Soviet Security Apparatus in Axis Occupied Ukraine, 1943–44
Full text linkThis article elucidates the reconstruction of the Soviet security apparatus during World War II in what today is western Ukraine. In late 1943 to early 1944, six operational groups of the People’s Commissariat of State Security of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic headed to the Axis occupied territories with orders to re-establish contacts with Soviet secret agents and create a support infrastructure for the deployment of other operational groups, special purposes units, and individual agents, as well as to infiltrate organizations of Polish and Ukrainian nationalists. The essay examines Soviet special operations within the context of state efforts to project power into the Axis occupied territories. It sheds light on the objectives of Soviet security agencies and on the activities of individual units in the field
Review of Simone Attilio Bellezza. The Shore of Expectations: A Cultural Study of the Shistdesiatnyky.
No full textResisting Russification in Soviet Ukraine through Literary Translation: The Voice of Mykola Lukash
Full text linkThe Soviet totalitarian regime not only violated human rights, it pursued an aggressive policy of assimilation, seeking Russian cultural and linguistic hegemony over all Soviet republics. Literary translation was no longer viewed as an apolitical activity and became an ideological weapon and an efficient “means of forced cultural change” (Monticelli). Regime ideologues sought control over both the selection of “reliable” authors / texts for translation and the ways in which these texts were interpreted in the target languages. This policy led to the appearance of massive translations from Russian literature and a widespread practice of indirect translations, with Russian intermediary texts as a criterion of fidelity. In Soviet Ukraine, however, this Russification policy went further and targeted the Ukrainian language itself; this resulted in the lexicographical deactivation of many authentic Ukrainian words and their substitution with Russian counterparts. Extensive repressive practices and tight ideological constraints gave rise to translators’ activism and cultural resistance and inspired translators to take on new roles. The case of Mykola Lukash (1919–88), whose name went down in the history of Ukrainian translation as a symbol of resistance, illustrates some of the social roles performed by translators to resist Russification. Lukash’s actions as translation gatekeeper, cultural custodian, and language guardian exemplified the importance of personal agency and a firm occupational identity for translators who opposed assimilation
Liturgical Translation in Europe’s Medieval East: Matters of Civilization and Textual Praxis
Full text linkThe paper focuses on the medieval period of the history of liturgical translation in Ukraine and Poland. In the ninth century, the evangelizing mission of SS Cyril and Methodius brought Christian translations to the east of what was then Europe. Although religious translations were not cherished in Moravia and Poland, they flourished in Bulgaria, Serbia, and Ukraine. The Roman corpus of liturgical texts existed only in Latin, and socio-political conditions stimulated the emergence of translations from Latin to Polish. The Byzantine corpus was introduced in Old Church Slavonic, which was understood by and accepted among Slavs. Different nations modified these texts according to their local visions and the necessities of their churches. Poland’s and Ukraine’s liturgical praxis under the aegis of the Roman and Byzantine Mother-Churches defined the shaping of different corpora of liturgical books, but the quality of translations was high in all Slavonic translations. The (typically) negatively judged strategy of literalism prepared a foundation for lingual experimentation in semantic expression and helped to spread the local melodies of liturgical tradition. The Church Slavonic language gave a more fruitful impetus to the development of early Ukrainian literature than the Latin language provided to early Polish literature. In fact, the Latin language restrained a similar development of early Polish literature for two centuries
Review of Ana Janevski et al, editors. Art and Theory of Post-1989 Central and Eastern Europe: A Critical Anthology.
No full textUkrainian Community Archives in Victoria, Australia: A Stocktake
Full text linkContemporary research increasingly recognizes the role of community archives in preserving evidence of the pasts of identity groups, validating their historical experience, and thus furthering the goals of social justice and equality. Such values underlie the Association of Ukrainians in Victoria (Australia) Archival Project, which the present article places into the broader context of Ukrainian community archival collections in the state of Victoria. Data obtained through interview have enabled a descriptive survey of such collections, which are found to be concentrated in a handful of “archival clusters” in suburban Melbourne and regional Victoria. The most typical contents of the collections—records of the proceedings and activities of community secular and religious organizations—reflect the dominant role in the community’s life of organizations established by post-World War II immigrants. The collections constitute a rich resource for research into the part of the community encompassed by these organizations, even if, as a rule, at least at present, they are not well ordered or described. They are less revealing of the experience of immigrants who arrived later or were less inclined to join community organizations. Lack of resources, both human and material, confronts the mainly volunteer officeholders who are responsible for the organizations’ archives. In consequence, collections are often inadequately and sometimes unsafely housed, and in general only informally organized; finding aids or descriptions of them are seldom available. Initiatives taken by some organizations suggest that there is growing awareness among community activists of the potential value of archives for showing and interpreting the community to itself and to others
