Studying Ukrainian Literature from a comparative perspective
The emphasis of the Ukrainian Culture, Language and Literature Program on linguistic competence and cultural literacy forms an important premise of Comparative Literature. Comparative literary and cultural studies view any given literary tradition as a dialogue and a locus of complex intercultural influences; therefore, any literary text can be situated outside the limits of the national space.
Comparative Literature is dedicated to the study of literature in the broadest possible framework — interlingual, intercultural, and interdisciplinary. This discipline is based on the assumption that the study of single texts and cultures is greatly enriched by knowledge of other texts and cultures surrounding them. Work of systematic comparison may be made through such perspectives as literary genre, periods and movements in literary history, dominant themes and motifs, or in the context of the mutual impact of two national cultures or entire civilizations. Comparative Literature offers students extraordinary possibilities of exploring the interrelations between literature and such areas as ideology and colonialism, cultural studies, film and other visual arts, gender studies, religious studies, political thought, and the natural and social sciences. Interdisciplinary classes and projects with other departments are actively encouraged.
Combining Ukrainian studies with Comparative literature will give students an opportunity to explore Ukrainian culture in the broader context of, and in comparison with, other cultures, literary traditions and theoretical models. Some examples of the comparative approach may include the following:
- Ukrainian culture between West and East in a historical perspective and in the post-totalitarian period;
- Ukrainian culture in the context of colonial/postcolonial studies and imperial/neo-imperial relations in today’s world;
- the role of Ukrainian culture and literature in various international movements and historical periods (e.g., Renaissance and Baroque, Romanticism, Realism, Modernism and Avant-garde, Postmodernism);
- the role of literary analogies, similarities and differences between specific authors and literary forms and genres in Ukrainian literature and other literary traditions;
- issues of Ukrainian-English (Russian, French, etc.) and English (Russian, French, etc.)-Ukrainian literary translation: Is cultural translation possible?; The ideology and politics of translation; Ukrainian literature in translation in the context of global literature, and so on.
- popular culture studies; examination of Ukrainian culture in film, art, media, and cyber discourse in the context of specific intercultural comparisons and/or in the global perspective.
The following courses incorporate aspects of comparative and interdisciplinary approaches:
UKR 469: Civilization and Culture in Ukraine: 988–1794
UKR 415: Women in Culture
UKR 471: Ukrainian Romanticism
UKR 472: Ukrainian Realism
UKR 473: Ukrainian Modernism and Avant-Garde
UKR 474: Diaspora and Dissent
SLAV 467: Slavic Romanticism
SLAV 468: Nikolai Gogol / Mykola Hohol’
SLAV 469: Futurism: East and West
SLAV 475: Women’s Writing after the Fall of Communism
MLCS 461: The Cultures of the Avant-Garde
To learn about them and other courses in our program, visit our list of Undergraduate Courses.
