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486 LETI"IlRS IN CANADA« A moi ! » est celui 11 la fois d'un appel de detresse et d'une provocation de l'univers. Rendant compte de La T~te barbare, une epithete s'impose, « Fulgurant , » qui renvoie au texte de Fernand Ouellette : « Ie poeme est une p~que, un cheminement de la Fulgurance 11 I'Ineffable ... c'est Ie plus court chemin pour acceder it I'Inaccessible » (<< Dans Ie sombre», p. 85). L'aventure est radicale parce qu'elle s'est installee dans une exigence qui ne saurait entretenir les illusions sous peine de se saborder. Bien sftr ! Audet n'est pas Ie premier it vouloir tout recommencer. Mais dans cette lignee, dont on a peu d'exemples en poesie quebecoise, tout recommencement ne peut qu'~tre neuf et total. C'est lui que met en ceuvre toute poCsie. C'est lui qui met en jeu la poCsie elle-m~me. (JEAN-LoUIS MAJOR) PUBLICATIONS IN OTHER LANGUAGES It is regrettable that, owing to the ever-increasing number of books, pamphlets, and articles published in Canada which relate to the political, historical, economic, social, religiOUS, and other problems of Ukrainians and their fellow Slavs here and in Europe, I find it impossible, within the prescribed limits of this section, to supply adequate criticism of the materials dealt with. With but rare exceptions where certain critical judgment is unavoidable, the best I can do is examine the items sent to me from various quarters, summarize their contents and, according to their value, give them greater or lesser treatment. It is my hope that the mere culling of important thoughts and ideas contained in them will prove of some benefit to those who are interested enough to learn what is happening in literary fields other than those of English or French. Much has already been written about J. Kolasky's Educatirm in the Soviet Unirm (Toronto, 238, $3.50). Suffice it here to say that it is a severe indictment of the enforced Russification of the Ukrainians in their homeland. What makes this well-documented book so salient is that its author is himself a Communist. To him this coercion means not only that the Ukrainian language in the UkrSSR is being destroyed, but that the culture of the nation as a whole is, as a result, in the process of extinction. The Chornovil Papers (McGraw-Hill, 296, $5.95) constitutes a further censure of the methods used by the USSR to suppress all intellectual activity in Ukraine. The material contained in the book was com- PUBLICATIONS IN OTHER LANGUAGES 487 piled by Vyacheslav Chomovil and smuggled to Canada in fragments. Although a member of the Communist party, he exposes the injustice of Soviet courts in holding secret trials of innocent Ukrainian men of letters as well as of leaders in various public activities and, without valid evidence, condemning them to hard-labour camps in Siberia. Chomovil was a witness of those trials held in Lviv (the capital of Western Ukraine) in 1956-7. For refusing to testify falsely against those accused, and for writing petitions in their behalf, he himself was eventually COnvicted and sent to an undisclosed locality. The materials assembled here clearly reveal that those "criminals of the State" merely glOrified their native land in their writings and were critical of the anti-Ukrainian policies of the Soviet government which, in spite of Lenin's favourable attitude towards all the nationalities comprising the USSR, frowns upon the least sign of political or cultural activity that betrays the Ukrainian people's aspiration to independence, even within the framework of Communism . The fact that those trials were conducted behind closed doors is proof enough that they were illegal. Chomovi!'s volume is a documented attack on Soviet court procedures and the harsh methods used by the government's secret police ( KGB) which seeks to strengthen the so-called "socialist legality" in the Union. Most of the volume is devoted to the biographies, letters, and literary writings of those so convicted, and from whom Chomovil collected as much as he could in order to present to the world at large the unbearable conditions under which they live in distant prison camps. It is interesting to note that the chief prosecutor did not deny the authenticity of Chornovi!'s attestations. If true, the entire affair is of a serious nature and can only reBect unfavourably on the prevailing regime. Professor G. Luckyj's article, "Turmoil in the Ukraine"* (Problems of Communism, London, XVll, 4, July-Aug. 1968), confirms that the Russification of Ukraine is now in full swing, and has reached the point where the Ukrainian language is ostensibly abandoned, not only in Ukrainian schools at all levels, but also in kindergartens. The people have become so intimidated that they are afntid to speak their own tongue in public. Being one of the foremost specialists in Ukrainian Communist literature, Dr. Luckyj comprehensively surveys the matter of the Chomovil Papers and the persecutions and arrests of the poets of the 1960s. Of particular interest is his account of the fire at the Library of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences in Kiev on 24 May 1964, at the time when he "Professor Luckyj continues to burden the noun "Ukraine" with the definite article. It is altogether unnecessary. 488 LEITERS IN CANADA was visiting the'Soviet Union. As a witness of that conflagration, he was struck by the apathy of the spectators and by the fact that the occurrence was not immediately reported in the press. Official Soviet legal findings disclosed that it was an act of arson committed by a disgruntled and emotionally unbalanced librarian, hence the work of a saboteur. Nine months later, however, a document was smuggled out of the USSR, according to which the arSOn was engineered by the Soviet secret police (KGB), whose instructions were to destroy Ukrainian folklore literature and historical documents which were being stored in the library. "Ukrainians, do you know what was burned?" was asked in the document . "A part of your mind and soul was burned," was the answer. The learned scholar concludes: "Yet if Moscow should persist on a course that makes no concessionsto all the legitimate Ukrainian aspirations, it may well drive the dissidents to more vocal demands for the complete independence of the Ukraine." The almanac of the weekly newspaper Ukrainskiy Halos (Ukrainian Voice, Winnipeg, 192 pp.), celebrates four jubilees. One is the centennial of the establishment of the Ukrainian Society "Prosvita" ("Enlightenment "), which in the course of its existence did much to educate the peasant masses in the province of Galicia and to instil in them the consciousness of their national identity. Many branches of that organization continue to thrive in Canada and the United States. The two following fiftieth anniversaries concern the achievement of independence of Western Ukraine (previously under Austria) O n I November 1918, and the more important Act of 22 January 1919, when the sovereignty of both the "Russian" and "Austrian" Ukraine was proclaimed in Kiev. Not to be forgotten is the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk at which, on 9 February 1918, Ukraine, by then threatened by the Red forces, was recognized as an independent nation by Germany, Austro-Hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey. The fourth jubilee recalls that fifty years ago the Ukrainian GreekOrthodox Church in Canada was established in the city of Saskatoon. Peredvisnyky i tvortsi lystopadovoho zryvu (The Forerunners and Creators of the November Uprising, Trident Press, Winnipeg, 324 pp.) was compiled by S. Volynets. It is a series of thirty-six monographs of leading Ukrainian politicians and activists who, from early in the nineteenth century, fought for the freedom of Western Ukraine and prepared the Ukrainians there to achieve that goal on 1 November 1918. Their independence, however, was short-lived, because their government, formed shortly after the fall of Austro-Hungary, did not possess adequate military means to withstand the attacks of the better-equipped Polish PUBLICATIONS IN OTHER LANGUAGES 489 army. It existed only till June 1919, after which time it sought to use its influence in western Europe up to 1922. The diplomatic efforts it exerted proved ineffective, for Poland, with the help of the Entente, was by then firmly entrenched on that Ukrainian territory. Books in connection with the Canaruan Centennial continue to appear. Among them is the first of the three volumes of Dr. M. I. Marunchak's monumental Istoriya ukraintsiv Kanady CA History of Ukrainians in Canada, Ukrainian Free Academy of Sciences, Winnipeg, 467 pp.). It is a detailed account of Ukrainian settlements in various parts of Canada up to the end of the First World War. Never before has such a mass of material regarding this ethnic group been collected. The author considers 1891 as the year marking the beginning of the Ukrainian immigration, but emphasizes that in 1813 a number of Ukrainians came to Canada as solruers in the Watteville Regiment and fought on the side of the British in eastern Canada. In 1817 sOme of them.joined the military experution under Lord Selkirk and moved as far westward as the Red River valley. Although he mentions a few Ukrainian names, Dr. Marunchak produces no information as to what finally happened, whether those soldiers became assimilated with the Anglo-Saxons in Manitoba or went to England. Some Ukrainians arrived in the eighties, Winnipeg being their stopping point, but no trace of them or their descendants has as yet been discovered. For that reason, this historian establishes 1891 as the year in which a trickle of immigration became a stream of several hundred thousand in the following decades. Much that is already known is repeated by Dr. Marunchak: for example, the new settlers, either industrial labourers or homesteaders, were ruscriminated against in spite of the protection they received from such altruists as C. Sifton, Dr. A. G. Hunter and C. H. Young. The latter summarized their precarious situation as follows: "So the Ukrainians finally settled in the different parts of the West, hanrucapped at times by the want of funds to the point of destitution and starvation, and limited in their choice of land to the accessible rustricts which had been either abandoned or avoided by the earliest immigrants." Dr. Marunchak's history is too extensive to be dealt with thoroughly here. It must be added, however, that the compiler treats all phases of the life of Ukrainians in Canada and presents their various activities objectively. When the reader has completed the study of this abundantly illustrated work, it is clear to him that this ethnic group, while preserving its national characteristics and sentiments, has, through the passage of years, become well Canaruanized. The loyalty of these people to the land 490 LEITERS IN CANADAof their adoption was made ev;dent by the fact that thousands of them joined the Canadian armed forces, -hundreds _ of them dying on the western front in the First World War. It i~ not an exaggeration-to assert that Mrs. Olha Woycenko's-The Ukrainians in Canada (Trident Press, Ottawa-Winnipeg, xv, 271, $7.50), is thus far-the best book written in English about Ukrainians here. After succinctly describing the characteristics of the Ukrainians and their homeland, Mrs. Woycenko summarizes the three waves of their immigration to Canada: the first - before 1914; -the second - between the two world wars; the third - in the late forties and the early fifties. The details she offers regarding them are essentially similar to those presented in Dr. Marunchak's book. However, Mrs. Woycenko is more eloquent than her counterpart in revealing the staunchness of these settlers in the preservation of their identity by retaining their language and traditions. That staunchness was met with hostility from the Winnipeg Free Press, which advocated their complete assimilation. Despite this opposition, the Ukrainians, through their religious and secular organizations, succeeded in preserving their manners andcustoms and, at the same time, their Canadianism. The most important part of Mrs. Woycenko's work is that iri which she makes a thorough inquiry into Ukrainian _art, literature, scientific research, and scholarship in general. In following her investigations, one cannot but be amazed at how much has actually been accomplished and what greater achievements are promised in the future. Here is where the endeavours of the Ukrainians and their"Anglo-Saxon and French counterparts merge. Mrs. Woycenko concludes her excellent book by stating: "The perpetuation of Ukrainian cultural life in Canada is motivated by internal as !Well as external factors. If_ it is the will of Ukrainians to survive and develop as an ethno-lingual entity in Canada, the internal detrimental factors must be faced and resolved. On -the other hand, if-cultural-diversity in Canada of tomorrow is to prevail, it must be recognized -by governments and encouraged by moral and material assistance." Dr. C. Bida, professor of Slav;stics at the University of Ottawa, and Miss Vera Rich of London, England, have_ collaborated in producing a book to be cherished by lovers of fine letters. Their _ subject is Lesya Ukrainka (published for the-Women's Council of the Ukrainian Canadian Committee by the University of Toronto Press, viii, 259, $6.50). Dr. Bida has prov;ded a scholarly analytic study of the life and works of this poetess who, despite an_ incurable and painful malady, became one of the great literary figUres, n6tonly in Ukraine but in the restof Europe. PUBLICATIONS IN OTHER LANGUAGES 491 In her relatively brief life span 0871-1913), this frail woman created such a huge body of lyrical poetry and drama in verse that one cannot but wonder at her spiritual stamina. Dr. Bida stresses her dramas, the themes of which she selected from ancient, medieval, and modem history. So virile is her verse that the poet Ivan Franko called her "the greatest masculine poet of the entire Ukraine." Of her vast literary output only a meagre portion was selected and translated by Miss Rich, and that only tolerably well. Out of about a dozen of Lesya Ukrainka's dramas only three are included: The Steme Guest, her version of the Don Juan legend;.The Orgy, whose action takes place in Corinth when it was under Roman rule; and Cassandra, where a phase of the Trojan War is depicted. One of the highlights of this collection is her long masterpiece, Robert Bruce, King of Scotland. In this poem, as well as in several of her dramas and many lyrics, Lesya Ukrainka divulges to her people how to profit by the warlike example of other peoples in achieving their own independence. It is a pity that so few of her grandiose "iron-clad" lyrics are included in this otherw;se commendable book. The latest collection of verse, Poeziya i proza (Poetry and Prose, Winnipeg, 80 pp.) by Stefan Semczuk glaringly reflects the age of disillusionment through which humanity is now passing amid unprecedented material profuSion. To me it is an enigma why the second part of this brochure is entitled "Prose," for it consists entirely of versified lyrics, most of them written in an utterly pessimistic vein. It may be that here the poet considers life as a prosaic experience even if it is at tin)es coated with the veneer. of poetry. Here, too, he seeks to probe the meaning of life, admitting his failure when all is said and done. As a result he remonstrates with God himself, questioning why He created men as they are, burdening .them w;th unbearable passions and tribulations from which He, apparently, derives pleasure. Such a thought, emerging from the mind.of the venerable priest that Msgr.. Semczuk is, makes for fearful reading. Here and there, however, especially in the first part, "Poetry," he intersperses truly religiOUS and positive lyrics and so appears to be saved from dire despair. Besides being subjective in nature, his poetry is highly impressionistic and frequently abstract, so much so that its meaning is often lost in the trammels of his lucubrations. However eminent his poetic talent is, Semczuk might have spared his sensitive readers from such depressing thoughts as, for example: 'We are worms ... we multiply rapidly in the mire of aflluence/and die from stale pleasures,/although we always dream of our abysmal downfall/and of the demon's frenzied laughter." 492 LETTERS IN CANADA Much greater pragmatism is expressed by Fr. Semczuk's Sotvorennia (Creation, Winnipeg, 75 pp.). The collection is divided into four parts: The Beginning, in which, using scientific terms, he describes God's creation of the world in six days; Annals, comprising several longer lyrics replete with fine similes, some abstract, relating to certain famous figures in the ancient history of Ukraine; The Prairie, where he revels, not without certain elegiac notes, in the phenomena surrounding him; and Mystique, whose chief characteristic is the modemistically rendered philosophy of religion and himself. Much of his lyricism cannot be understood without interpretation, which he regrettably does not supply. Another important literary item resulting from the Canadian Centennial was M. I. Mandryka's History of Ukrainian Literature in Canada (Ukrainian Free Academy of Sciences, Winnipeg, 247, $7.50). Having given a brief account of the historical and literary history of Ukraine, Dr. Mandryka divides his survey into four parts: the pioneer period (end of the nineteenth century); later pioneer span (beginning of the twentieth century); the interval between the two world wars; the period since World War n . The most erudite book to have appeared last year was Dr. P. Macenko's Narysy do istoriyi ukrainskoyi tserkovnoyi muzyky (Outlines of the History of Ukrainian Church Music, M.Th.B., Roblin-Winnipeg, 151 pp.). Much of its material is speculative and based on certain hypotheses which are not yet verified by other specialists in the field. This musicologist claims that Christianity existed in Ukraine several centuries before its official acceptance in 988 or 989 from Byzantium by Prince Volodymyr of Kiev. Although there is no doubt that religiOUS singing came to Ukraine from the eastern part of the Roman Empire, Dr. Macenko maintains that some kind of national church canticles had been prevalent on her territory and became incorporated into the folklorist vocal music long before the Kiev Principality's general conversion to the Christian faith. If one compares the sacred music of northern India, Armenia, and Georgia, some resemblances to it may be found in Ukrainian chants. Another conclusion that may tentatively be reached is that Ukrainian ancient church music derived to some extent from the Near East, particularly from Jerusalem, Antioch and, later, from Bulgaria. Regardless of all those inauences, supposed or not, Ukrainian singing did preserve its originality even in the primeval period, treated intelligently by the author. Whatever ancient Ukraine accepted into her ecclesiastical sphere, she immediately reformed in such a manner as to make it conform to her own custom. It is most interesting to follow PUBLICATIONS IN OTHER LANGUAGES 493 Dr. Macenko's meticulous arguments in that respect from the archaeological period (when, according to Herodotus, the present territory of Ukraine was inhabited by the race of Agatherses) through to recent times. In spite of its many conjectures, this investigation is indeed an invaluable contribution to the history of music in general. A Ukrainian Canadian in Parliament (Toronto, 128, $3.00) purpons to be a complete political account of the first Canadian of Ukrainian descent to have had the honour of being elected to the Canadian House of Commons. He is Michael Luchkovich, who represented the constituencyof Vegreville, Alberta, from 1926 to 1935 when he went down to defeat with most of the Members of Parliament of the United Farmers of Alberta party to which he belonged. This biography was capably edited by J. Gregorovich, chairman of the Ukrainian Canadian Research Foundation in Toronto. It was mostly under R. B. Bennett's administration that Mr. Luchkovich served in parliament. During his tenure of office he performed his duties painstakingly. He was particularly outspoken when he felt it his duty to COme to the defence of various ethnic communities, especially Ukrainians whom certain Anglo-Saxon groups treated with prejudice, and even injuriously. When their compatriots in Ukraine were being dealt with even more harshly by the Poles who sought to "pacify" them by physical violence, Mr. Luchkovich was likewise compelled to speak in behalf of those so victimized, demanding that the Canadian government bring that matter to the attention of the League of Nations. All those efforts are recorded in extensive excerpts from Hansard in the latter half of the book. His enthusiastic reminiscences about his travels in Europe, where he met Ukrainian and English parliamentarians, are given prominence. Particularly is he proud of having been the sole delegate to represent the British Empire at the International Parliamentary Union held in Bucharest, Rumania, in 1931. After his defeat Mr. Luchkovich became a publicist and a literary figure and as such he remains to the present day. Narys istoriyi ukrainskoyi yevanhelsko-baptystkoyi tserkvy (Historical Sketch of the Ukrainian Evangelical Baptist Church, Toronto, 596 pp.), is the work of Pastor H. Domashovets. He dates the origin of this church from the time of Christ's baptism in the Jordan River_ His extensive study embraces Baptists of all nationalities, but the greater part of his book is devoted to the Ukrainians belonging to that denomination. Their numbers are insigoificant when compared to the Catholic or Orthodox elements in Ukraine and abroad, the reason for that being that Baptists were persecuted by these larger church groups and to a great extent 494 LEITERS IN CANADA subordinated by the Russian Baptists. The fact that the Russian language was enforced in their religious services both in Canada and the United States likewise prevented any appreciable increase in their membership. Of some interest is the author's contention that many Ukrainian writers, among them Shevchenko himse1f, when dealing with religious matters, expressed the same ideas as those that were cherished by the·Ukrainian Baptists throughout the centuries. To stress this point, Rev. H. Domashovets incorporates in his history the entire Books of the Existence of the Ukrainian People, which were written by the greatest Ukrainian historian of the nineteenth century, M. Kostomariv, and which became the Credo of the Saints Cyril and Methodius Brotherhood, whose chief aim was to make the Ukrainian people an independent nation within the great Slavic confederation. A specialist in botany, Dr. T. Onufrijchuk has produced a short book, Flora u sviatomu pysmi (The Flora in the Holy Scriptures, Yorkton, 65 pp.) . Thirty-three plants and trees are mentioned. The author quotes a biblical passage or two relating to a given plant and then describes it both popularly and scientifically, occasionally supplying ancient sources. It is only too apparent that he does not exhaust the names of all plants to be found in the Bible, but whatever he deals with, he does so capably. In his preface he summarizes the works of several major botanists and, commenting on Charles Darwin, underlines that evolutionist's belief in God - when one of his fellow-scientists once came to visit him, he was told by Darwin's son that his father could not see him presently because he was praying. Linnaeus also was a religiOUS man, as can be gathered from the inscription on the plaque on his door: Vivite innocui, Numen adest ("Live purely, God is among us"). Dr. J.Kirschbaum's well-illustrated Slovaks in Canada (Toronto, 470 pp.) is another Centennial project. This substantial book includes not only the history of the Slovaks in this country; but also a fairly extensive history of Slovakia and her people. Its author compiled his material so scrupulously that it seems he omitted nothing of importance. Here the reader coines into contact not only with all the Slovak organizations in Canada (religiOUS, lay, communal, even Communist), but likewise with a host of Slovak political leaders, priests, professors, sportsmen, workers, farmers, merchants, and many more employed in other occupations . The book is a credit to Dr. Kirschbaum, whose extensive historical scrutiny leaves little to be desired. There is no doubt that thus far this is the best book of its kind ever published in English. Since 1950, Professor J. B. Rudnyckyj has been editing and·publish- PUBLICATIONS IN OTHER LANGUAGES 495 ing periodically, under the direction of the Ukrainian Free Academy of Sciences, Slavica Canadiana. These booklets of various lengths (averaging some fifty pages) contain a wide range of material written in several languages and pertaining to Slavistics in general. The authors are reputed scholars in that area and, as a result, the entire collection is an accumulation of knowledge that can be of benefit to students and specialists. The brochure under present consideration is the sixtieth of the series. It is one of several numbers devoted to the bibliographical lists of Slavic publications compiled by the editor in co-operation with T. W. Krychowski. It goes without saying that there is now a great need for such bibliographies if researchers in Slavic are to delve into their subjects properly. The second part of this issue is a conglomeration of reviews, comments, and reports which the editor might well have dispensed with, concentrating his attention on further cataloguing of pertinent items of which, I am certain, there is no lack. Students of Russian will certainly welcome An Anthology of Russian Poetry, compiled and edited by Dr. M. Antonovych-Rudnycka (Universityof Manitoba Press, Winnipeg, 192 pp.). In addition to Pushkin and Lermontov, who are predominantly represented, other poets included are Derzhavin, Zhukovsky, Nekrasov, Tiutchev, Bunin, Blok, Yesenin, Mayakovsky, Gumilev, and Pasternak. It is only too apparent that the collection is top-heavy with the first two. Besides, the collection lacks a vocabulary, for which even advanced students of the language, for whom the Reader is intended, would be grateful. Such as it is, however, the textbook merits some commendation. Many more of this kind are needed. Canadian Sla170nic Papers, the official journal of the Canadian Association of Slavists, has now become a Quarterly. The latest three numbers of Volume x, printed by University of Toronto Press, contain some 400 pages of learned material which is of great value not only to specialists in Slavistics but likewise to those interested in a variety of events occurring behind the Iron Curtain. Much space here is given to Russia which, according to Professor S. Z. Pech, "for the past five hundred years ... has cast a shadow over Eastern Europe and has dominated parts of it for long periods of time." Much useful knowledge can be gained from its articles which are, variously, political, economic, historical, linguistic , literary, and generally highly educational. A journal of this sort is all the more valuable nowadays when the eastern part of Europe is astir with movements and crises that threaten to disrupt the status quo of the entire world. (c. H. ANnRUSYSHBN) ...

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