Yuri Andrukhovych addresses University of Pittsburgh audience (05/20/01)

Yuri Andrukhovych addresses University of Pittsburgh audience

by Oksana Doroshkevich

PITTSBURGH - "To be a Ukrainian poet is to be hidden from the rest of the world." With this quote by Victor Neborak, Prof. Michael Naydan introduced Yuri Andrukhovych to the audience gathered recently in Posvar Hall at the University of Pittsburgh.

Mr. Andrukhovych is quite the opposite of hidden. Besides being a poet, prose writer and essayist, he is also active as a translator, a literary critic, scriptwriter and a literary activist. Taking time out of his demanding schedule, he captivated the Pittsburgh audience with readings from his literature and performances of his works by a professional actor.

The evening opened with introductions of Prof. Naydan of the Slavic Department at Penn State, Michael Bernosky, a professional actor who presented Mr. Andrukhovych's works in English and the special visitor, Mr. Andrukhovych. Prof. Naydan gave brief background information on Mr. Andrukhovych and proceeded on to his novels. Born in 1960, this Ivano-Frankivsk native has become one of the most prominent writers whose literature reacts against earlier modernist principles. Mr. Naydan commented on the novels that have influenced readers both in Ukraine and abroad: "Recreations," "Moscoviada" and "Perversion."

Mr. Andrukhovych's first novel, "Recreations," is a controversial satirical story that plays on the Ukrainian cultural rebirth that occurred as a result of the country's independence in the early 1990's. The story unfolds in 1991, when Khomsky, a poet, is returning to Ukraine to attend a restoration of the long-forgotten "Festival of the Resurrecting Spirit." The book portrays the festival as a time of rejoicing when "Emancipated souls celebrated their renewal, Free Laughter and Untrammeled Poetry ascended to waft over the sinful earth, and the Dastardly Skeletal One retreated before the implacable blows of Human immorality." As the characters stumble into increasingly dreamlike surroundings the reader is transported into the episodes with them. First published in 1992, Recreations marked Mr. Andrukhovych as a stylish, yet lucid writer.

"Perversion" is a post-modern philosophical novel that uses verbal play and multi-leveled tones, where the protagonist, Stanislav Perfetsky, is recreated to lead an anti-saint's life. Mr. Perfetsky was Mr. Andrukhovych's hero and close friend who disappeared in March of 1993 - no one knows what really happened to him and his corpse was never found.

Mr. Perfetsky once said, "I broke nine out of 10 of God's commandments, except one. Thou shall not kill." This is the best description of the hero's inner world of the hero. As this mysterious whirlwind of events continues to twirl, Mr. Perfetsky meets the woman of his dreams, Ada Zitrone, and realizes that he cannot live without her. Within minutes he falls in love, endangering his life, nevertheless, he has to give a speech at the conference organized apparently by the Devil himself, but at the end he disappears.

According to Prof. Naydan, "Perversion" is the reconstruction of reality - actually several versions of the same reality. Mr. Andrukhovych mentioned that his collection of information came from assorted sources, including Mr. Perfesky's own notes and audiotapes, newspapers, eyewitness interviews and other various sources.

In both the "Recreations" and "Perversion" Mr. Andrukhovych builds up tension in devious augmentations and finishes off each novel with a climactic end that leaves the reader wanting more.

Prof. Naydan, who translates Mr. Andrukhovych's literature into English, praised Mr. Andrukhovych's writing, which has been translated into English, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Polish and Russian. His poetry has also been set to music. Although some may find his literature to be offensive, because of the profanity and sexual content, he is after all, a connoisseur of detail and expression. Mr. Andrukhovych pointed out that he rejects Ukrainian realism and nationalism; he simply rejects having a force above himself. As he writes, he keeps these rejections in mind and writes with a focus on the stylish usage of language.

Although his prose is full of comic disposition, he disagrees that his literature is humorous. His writing is filled with pre-war phrases and words, thanks to his grandmother who influenced his usage of this particular language. Mr. Andrukhovych recalled that when he was about 5 years old his grandmother used such words when she spoke with her acquaintances and now 30 years later these words pop into his mind and seep into his writings. Besides focusing on language, the writer includes plenty of cultural and historical information.

Mr. Andrukhovych's works were read in Ukrainian by the writer himself and performed in English by Mr. Bernosky. Included among the poetry read and performed were "Clarnets of the Sun," "My Soul," "Italian Madonna," "Midnight Flight down High Castle Hill," "Circle" and other various excerpts.

When asked to comment on his knowledge of many languages, Mr. Andrukhovych's reply was similar to something that his alter-ego, Mr. Perfetsky, would have said. "I only know many words from a lot of languages." Mr. Andrukhovych also stated that post-modernism is not very serious in Ukraine, although it is the newest type of post-modernism in the world.

The evening concluded with a dinner at the University Club. Mr. Andrukhovych's visit was made possible through the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Russian and East European Studies, the Ukrainian Student Organization and the department of Slavic languages and Literature.

Mr. Andrukhovych is currently a visiting Fulbright scholar at Penn State University, where he is working on a project to translate poetry of the Beats and the New York School into Ukrainian. Besides novels, short stories and articles, three collections of Mr. Andrukhovych's poetry had been published and translated into English, German and Polish. Among those are "Sky and Plazas," "In Town," and "Exotic Birds and Plants."

Oksana Doroshkevich is a freshman at the University of Pittsburgh whose goal is to major in business/international affairs. She was born in Ukraine in 1982, but moved to the United States at the age of 7.

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