Description: On May 18, 2012 Prof. Valentyna Kharkhun (Mykola Hohol State University of Nizhyn) gave the 13th Danylo Husar Struk Memorial Lecture on the topic: "Depictions of WWII in Ukrainian Socialist Realist Literature (1941-1943)"
]]>https://cius-archives.ca/items/show/1978 The final Institute seminar of the first term was held on December 5 when Dr. Yar Slavutych of the Department of Slavic Languages, University of Alberta, spoke on "P. Crath and T. Pavlychenko: Nationalism vs. Socialism in Ukrainian-Canadian Literature."
The speaker examined the numerous poetic (seven collections) and two scholarly works of the active socialist Paul Crath [Pavlo Krat], who came to Canada in 1907 and proceeded to spread revolutionary ideas, departing from socialism to become a Protestant minister. As an ardent Ukrainian patriot, P. Crath attacked the Russian tsarist regime and yearned for an independent Ukraine during World War I.
The speaker then discussed the only book of T. Pavlychenko ' s poetry Dukh natsii (Spirit of Nation). This author was a professor of the University of Saskatchewan and a known nationalist leader in Canada. In his poetry the author maintained that the strong are victorious and reject laws of higher justice. Only the cultivation of a mighty will and biological force can assure liberation from captivity. This applied both to the biological world and to nations in their historical development.
The speaker presented Crath and Pavlychenko as talented poets who brought new and interesting ideas to Ukrainian-Canadian literature, and who deserve deeper and more comprehensive study.
The final Institute seminar of the first term was held on December 5 when Dr. Yar Slavutych of the Department of Slavic Languages, University of Alberta, spoke on "P. Crath and T. Pavlychenko: Nationalism vs. Socialism in Ukrainian-Canadian Literature."
The speaker examined the numerous poetic (seven collections) and two scholarly works of the active socialist Paul Crath [Pavlo Krat], who came to Canada in 1907 and proceeded to spread revolutionary ideas, departing from socialism to become a Protestant minister. As an ardent Ukrainian patriot, P. Crath attacked the Russian tsarist regime and yearned for an independent Ukraine during World War I.
The speaker then discussed the only book of T. Pavlychenko ' s poetry Dukh natsii (Spirit of Nation). This author was a professor of the University of Saskatchewan and a known nationalist leader in Canada. In his poetry the author maintained that the strong are victorious and reject laws of higher justice. Only the cultivation of a mighty will and biological force can assure liberation from captivity. This applied both to the biological world and to nations in their historical development.
The speaker presented Crath and Pavlychenko as talented poets who brought new and interesting ideas to Ukrainian-Canadian literature, and who deserve deeper and more comprehensive study.
]]>https://cius-archives.ca/items/show/1892 In his seminar, "Communism and the Dilemmas of National Liberation: The CP(b)U, 1919–33," James Mace, doctoral candidate in history. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, took the position that events in Ukraine after the Soviet revolution were and still are relevant to international developments. The first attempt in the world to reconcile socialism and nationalism failed in Ukraine because of the continuing dilemma between identity and purpose, and the inherent contradictions between the goals of socialism and nationalism. The speaker provided an overview of Bolshevik theories and practices before, during, and after the revolution by focusing on Lenin's writings and on the Bolsheviks' attitude towards Ukraine. The 1915 debate between Lev Iurkevych and Lenin foreshadowed the future conflicts which would arise between Ukrainian and Russian communists. / The Bolsheviks viewed Ukraine primarily as a source of food and acted accordingly—pillaging and expropriating grain during the civil war. Bolshevik policy then changed to "socialism with a Ukrainian face" to win popular support from the peasantry. The speaker focussed on the struggles between: the Bolsheviks and the Ukrainian "kulak" peasantry; voices for change from within the RCP (b) (i.e., Mazlakh, Shakhrai, and Lapchinsky); the merger of the "Ukapisty" and "Borotbisty" with the Bolsheviks; and debates about Ukrainization reflected in the writings of Ravich-Cherkassky, Iavorsky, Popov, Khvylovy, Shumsky, Volobuiev, and Skrypnyk. / The speaker concluded that attempts at Ukrainization ended after Stalin defeated his opposition and no longer needed the support of the non-Russian Bolsheviks. After collectivization and the famine, it was no longer necessary to placate the Ukrainian countryside; full-scale Russification could begin. The attempt to guarantee Ukrainian national aspirations through communism was only a surrogate for independence; it was a relative degree of political and economic autonomy dependent on the centralist powers in Moscow. The only major Ukrainian achievement of this period was in the cultural field, but this was thwarted by the wholesale destruction of the Ukrainian intelligentsia in the 1930s. Thus the dilemma of identity and purpose was never solved. Russian communism triumphed by repudiating the promises it had made to the non-Russian nationalities.
In his seminar, "Communism and the Dilemmas of National Liberation: The CP(b)U, 1919–33," James Mace, doctoral candidate in history. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, took the position that events in Ukraine after the Soviet revolution were and still are relevant to international developments. The first attempt in the world to reconcile socialism and nationalism failed in Ukraine because of the continuing dilemma between identity and purpose, and the inherent contradictions between the goals of socialism and nationalism. The speaker provided an overview of Bolshevik theories and practices before, during, and after the revolution by focusing on Lenin's writings and on the Bolsheviks' attitude towards Ukraine. The 1915 debate between Lev Iurkevych and Lenin foreshadowed the future conflicts which would arise between Ukrainian and Russian communists. / The Bolsheviks viewed Ukraine primarily as a source of food and acted accordingly—pillaging and expropriating grain during the civil war. Bolshevik policy then changed to "socialism with a Ukrainian face" to win popular support from the peasantry. The speaker focussed on the struggles between: the Bolsheviks and the Ukrainian "kulak" peasantry; voices for change from within the RCP (b) (i.e., Mazlakh, Shakhrai, and Lapchinsky); the merger of the "Ukapisty" and "Borotbisty" with the Bolsheviks; and debates about Ukrainization reflected in the writings of Ravich-Cherkassky, Iavorsky, Popov, Khvylovy, Shumsky, Volobuiev, and Skrypnyk. / The speaker concluded that attempts at Ukrainization ended after Stalin defeated his opposition and no longer needed the support of the non-Russian Bolsheviks. After collectivization and the famine, it was no longer necessary to placate the Ukrainian countryside; full-scale Russification could begin. The attempt to guarantee Ukrainian national aspirations through communism was only a surrogate for independence; it was a relative degree of political and economic autonomy dependent on the centralist powers in Moscow. The only major Ukrainian achievement of this period was in the cultural field, but this was thwarted by the wholesale destruction of the Ukrainian intelligentsia in the 1930s. Thus the dilemma of identity and purpose was never solved. Russian communism triumphed by repudiating the promises it had made to the non-Russian nationalities.