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LESIA UKRAINKA IN THE UKRAINIAN DIASPORA BY MARTA TARNAWSKY UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. Ukrainian communities in the United States and Canada have shown an exceptional interest in Lesia Ukrainka. Monuments in bronze have been erected in Cleveland, Ohio and in Toronto, Ontario (both by the emigre Ukrainian sculptor Mykhailo Chereshniovsky of New York). Commemorative concerts are held periodi cally by various Ukrainian organizations. Innumerable articles have been published — both in Ukrainian and in English —in a variety of newspapers and periodicals. There were a number of stage presentations of Lesia Ukrainka’s dramas and dramatic poems, the most memorable of which were On the Field of Blood, staged in 1951 in New York by the ’’Ukrainian Theater” of Volo- dymyr Blavatsky; an original modern interpretation of The Stone Host by the experimental ’’New Theater” under the direction of Volodymyr Lysniak (two different versions staged in New York in 1966) and The Forest Song presented by the young Ukrainian student-actors of New York Art Studio under the direction of Lidia Kru- shelnytska (1971-71). More important, because of their lasting value, were serious scholarly publications. In 1953 the Tyschenko- Bilous Publishing House in New York reprinted the 12- volume 1927 Knyhospilka edition of Lesia Ukrainka’s collected works. The edition sold out relatively quickly and today it can only be found in large libraries and in private collections. 1970 saw the publication of a mas sive (923pp.) volume, Lesia Ukrainka: Chronology of Life and Works. Issued by the Ukrainian Academy of Arts and Sciences in the United States, this was a signif icant contribution to Lesia Ukrainka studies. It consisted of Lesia Ukrainka’s correspondence — preserved and brought into the West by the poet’s sister, Olga Kossach-Kryvyniuk, who also provided an entertaining commentary. Almost one hundred of these letters, especially those of Lesia Ukrainka to her sister Olga and her sister’s husband Mykhailo Kryvyniuk, were published in this volume for the first time. The first ’’Permanent Conference of Ukrainian Studies,” which took place in 1976 at Harvard University, had Lesia Ukrainka as its main topic, and the papers presented at that confer ence, edited by Bohdan Romanenchuk, were subse quently published under the auspices of a special Jubi lee Committee. The volume also contained some newly discovered letters of Lesia Ukrainka which were found in the archives of the Hoover Institution in Stanford, California. The letters addressed to Felix Volkhovsky, the well known Socialist revolutionary, were sent by Lesia Ukrainka from San Remo, Italy, in 1902-1903. All of the publications mentioned above were in Ukrainian. Of special interest, however, are three books published in the Ukrainian diaspora which introduce Lesia Ukrainka to the Anglo-American reader. Spirit of Flame: A Collection of the Works of Lesia Ukrainka was published originally by Bookman Associates of New York in 1950 and was reprinted by the Greenwood Press of Westport, Connecticut in 1971. It is a well made volume of 320 pages with the poet’s portrait as front- piece and an eight-page forward by the Columbia Uni versity Professor Clarence A. Manning. Spirit of Flame contains a selection of Lesia Ukrainka’s lyrical poems as well as the dramatic poems and dramas On the Ruins, Babylonian Captivity, The Noblewoman, The Forest Song, and Martianus, the Advocate. All translations are by Percival Cundy. Dr. Cundy (1881-1947) was an English-born Presbyterian missionary in Canada who became one of the pioneer translators of Ukrainian literature, especially of the works of Ivan Franko and Lesia Ukrainka. He also wrote extensively on Ukrainian belles lettres in periodicals. Spirit of Flame has a 21- page introduction by Cundy which provides biographi cal data about Lesia Ukrainka and the translator’s criti cal comments about her work. He considers her an innovator whose role began to be appreciated only pos thumously. Cundy characterizes Lesia Ukrainka as a “poetess of rare scholarship, with an expert’s knowl edge of poetical technique, familiar with the principal European languages and literatures (including English), an unbounded imagination, keen psychological insight, and a power and vigor of expression not surpassed by any woman writer who has made a name for herself in Western literatures.” Lesia Ukrainka: Life and Work by Constantine Bida: Selected Works Translated by Vera Rich was published by the University of Toronto Press in 1968. This volume of 259 pages contains translations of the drama The Stone Host, of the dramatic poems The Orgy and Cas sandra, of the complete cycle "Seven Strings,” the long poem “Robert Bruce, King of Scotland,” and three shor ter poems ’’Contra Spem Spero,” “Untitled” and Epi logue.” Vera Rich, an English poet from London, has done numerous other translations from Ukrainian poe try, especially of Shevchenko and Franko. Her style differs from that of Percival Cundy. Spirit of Flame and Lesia Ukrainka: Life and Work complement each other beautifully: there is almost no overlap, no duplication. Two shorter poems, however, appear in both volumes: ’’Contra Spem Spero” and the first poem in the cycle ’’Seven Strings.” They make it possible for the readers to compare the styles and techniques of Percival Cundy and Vera Rich and to marvel at the difficulties of poetic translation! (Both versions are reprinted here as illustra- Видання C оюзу Українок A мерики - перевидано в електронному форматі в 2012 році . A рхів C У A - Ню Йорк , Н . Й . C Ш A.
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