CIUS 25th anniversary celebrations in Toronto

by Dr. Marko Stech

TORONTO - The Toronto Office of the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies celebrated 25 years of the institute's work on May 26, a date chosen to coincide with the annual conference of the Canadian Association of Slavists, then being held on the University of Toronto campus.

The festivities were enhanced by two interesting and significant academic events: the annual Danylo H. Struk Memorial Lecture and a book launch for the four-volume "Concordance to the Poetic Works of Taras Shevchenko." Both took place at University College, with approximately 100 academics and community members in attendance.

The Struk Memorial Lecture - supported by a fund established in memory of Prof. Struk and administered by the Canadian Foundation for Ukrainian Studies - was delivered this year by Dr. Oleh Ilnytzkyj, professor of Ukrainian literature at the University of Alberta department of modern languages and Cultural Studies. Following an introduction by Dr. Maxim Tarnawsky, professor of Ukrainian language and literature at the University of Toronto and director of the (CIUS) Mr. Struk Program in Ukrainian Literature, Prof. Ilnytzkyj gave a most interesting and illuminating presentation titled "Deconstructing Gogol's/Hohol's two 'Souls'." In it, he refuted the conventional explanation of Gogol/Hohol as a Russian writer and presented his views on Mykola Hohol's/Nikolai Gogol's national identity and the nature of the broad interplay between Ukrainian and Russian literature in the 19th century.

After sketching out the particular features of cultural life in this period, Dr. Ilnytzkyj proceeded with a call for reconceptualizing the understanding of "imperial culture" and the determination of national allegiances of writers in the Russian Empire. As a case in point, he demonstrated the organic ties of Hohol's work to both cultures: imperial Russian and Ukrainian national. A lively discussion followed when the floor was opened to questions.

A reception celebrating the CIUS anniversary followed the lecture. Focusing on the activities and achievements of the CIUS Toronto Office, it was the last in a series of events dedicated to marking the institute's first quarter-century. Dr. Frank Sysyn, the head of the Toronto Office, opened the official part of the program by outlining the structure of the office and the varied facets of its work accomplished through the CIUS Press, the Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine, the Toronto branch of the Peter Jacyk Center for Ukrainian Historical Research, and the Mr. Struk Program in Ukrainian Literature.

He also thanked the University of Toronto department of Slavic languages and literatures, which has had close ties with the Toronto Office's work throughout the 25 years of the institute's existence. Then CIUS director Dr. Zenon Kohut spoke of some of the highlights of the Toronto Office, noting in particular the work of former associate directors Prof. George S.N. Luckyj and Prof. Struk as well as former CIUS Press director Prof. Maxim Tarnawsky.

The main event of the program was a book launch organized by CIUS Press to mark the appearance of the four-volume "Concordance to the Poetic Works of Taras Shevchenko." Roman Senkus, director of the CIUS publications program, took the opportunity to note the history of CIUS publishing activities and pointed to its accomplishment of over 120 books and 64 research reports published.

Dr. Marko Stech, managing director of CIUS Press, then spoke briefly about future plans for the press before turning his attention to the significance of the concordance compiled by Prof. Oleh Ilnytzkyj and Dr. George Hawrysch, which was published by the Shevchenko Scientific Society, U.S.A., and the CIUS Press.

Both Prof. Ilnytzkyj and Dr. Hawrysch spoke about the manner in which the concordance was prepared and the impact that this work will have on the field of Shevchenko studies in particular and Ukrainian studies in general - all the more so since as this is the first and only Ukrainian publication of this type.

The organizers wrapped up the formal part of the program by thanking the Shevchenko Scientific Society in the United States for the donation of over 400 sets of the concordance to libraries and universities in Ukraine.

Dr. George Hawrysch's speech on concordance book launch

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, August 4, 2002, No. 31, Vol. LXX

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