Center for American Literary Studies in Ukraine 

CALSU was organized at Shevchenko Institute of Literature of the NAS of Ukraine at its Director's initiative and at patronage of the US Embassy for Ukraine in October, 2005. The Center's Regulations, Statute have been approved, the Research Council, representatives in regions have been appointed, the International Consultative Council has been formed. Activity of the Center took place in 2008 (as well as in the previous years) in compliance with the plans set at the Center's annual reporting conference, coordinated with the Directorate of the Institute, and financially supported with the Grant Federal Assistance Award number SUP30007 GR107 of May, 7, 2007.

1. The American Literature School continued its operation (based in Fulbright Foundation office and in close contact with its staff).
8 sessions were conducted. The theme was the US literature of the first half of the 20th century. Main directions and trends (modernism in poetry – 2 sessions, Jazz Age, Southern Literature, Negro Renaissance, proletarian literature)
Leading US schools of criticism: new humanism (2 sessions), new criticism (2 sessions).
15-20 participants both from Kyiv and from other cities of Ukraine have been permanently working within the framework of the school. The most active "students" are Cand. Phil. O.Dibinina, Cand. Phil. G.Stembkovska, Yu. Tkachuk (Kyiv, Shevchenko Institute of Literature), Assistant Professor O.Gon, T.Lazarenko (Kyiv, Institute of International Relations at Kyiv National Shevchenko University), G.Pokidko, Yu. Pavlenko, O.Babych (Kyiv, Linguistic University), PhD student of KNU named after Shevchenko S.Yakovenko, O.Huseinova (Kyiv Regional Grinchenko University), Assistant Professor M.Shymchichyn (Ternopil), Assistant Professor M.Koval (Lviv), O.Starshova, T.Ostapchuk, V.Rahnyansky (Mykolaiv), O.Bezhan (Odesa), L.Lobunets (Gorlivka), N.Shpyliova (Cherkasy), N.Bidasyuk (Khmelnytsky), N.Krynytska (Poltava), L.Kazakova (Bila Tserkva).
Active participation in the School's activities of Professors N.Vysotska (Kyiv Linguistic University), N.Zhluktenko (Kyiv National Shevchenko University) has contributed into high academic level of the sessions.

2. During 2008, N.I.Krynytska's Candidate Dissertation was successfully defended in Ukraine.

3. Members of our community take an active part in academic life of both Ukraine and other countries.
All of us deliver lectures at various higher educational facilities of Ukraine.
Specialized US literature courses were delivered by N.Vysotska, T.Myhed, O.Dubinina, L.Kozakova, N.Shpyliova, Yu.Tkachuk, G.Pokydko.
We try to be useful for our native Institute: in this year, we (T.Denysova, O.Dubinina, G.Stembkovska) have created the portrait of the US American Comparative Literary Studies.

4.We are reporters at conferences in philology of various levels. We actively participate in international conferences:
Vysotska N. presented at the International Conference "One of Many or United? Ethnic identities in the process of transnational integration in the North and South America" at the Center of Interdisciplinary Studies, Bilefeld (Germany), October, 2008.
M.Koval delivered a presentation at the session of the Polish Association of American Studies (Octobers, 22-24, Warsaw). She also delivered a lecture at the university of Lodz.
G.Stembkovska presented at the International Conference "Transatlantic Encounters" (Lodz, Poland).
The International Ukrainian Research Congress for Foreign Literature and Culture “World Literature at the Intersection of Cultures and Civilizations” in Sevastopol, in February, 2008 was attended by T.Myhed, N.Vysotska.
At the 34th International Conference of the Russian Society for Studying the US culture "History in the US Literature and Culture" in Moscow, MSU, December, 2008, N.Vysotska, O.Gon, M.Shymchyshyn, N.Krynytska presented.
At the International Research Conference "Multicultural Aspects of Modern Literary Studies Discourse", Chernivtsi, ChNU, in November 2008 N.Vysotska, M.Shymchyshyn presented
At the International Research Conference "Literature, Art and Liberal Arts of the 21st Century in the Perspective of Globalization Processes", Kharkiv National University named after V.Karazin, on September, 18-20, 2008, O.Dubinina, O.Gon, O.Bezhan presented.
Vysotska N.O., Gon O.M., Dubinina O., Pokidko G., Pavlenko Yu. delivered reports at the all-Ukraine Research Conference “East in the West, West in the East: the dialog of perception and artistic paradigms”, Kyiv, KNLU, March, 2008.

M.Shymchyshyn presented at the all-Ukraine Research Conference "New Literary Theory and Problems of Literary Anthropology" – Ternopil National Pedagogical University named after V.Hnatyuk, April, 10-11, 2008; at the conference "Actual Problems of Philology and American Studies", 1st Ukrainian Research and Practical Conference, April, 24-25, 2008, Kyiv National Aviation University; as well at the and also at the conference “Language and Culture”, the 17th International Research Conference named after Sergiy Burago, June, 23 - 27 2008, the Institute of Philology of Kyiv National Shevchenko University.
O.Gon, M.Shymchyshyn presented at the Fourth Theoretical Symposium "Modernism as the Theoretical Paradigm: clarification of contents" (Department of the Literary Theory at the Institute of Literature named after Shevchenko NAS of Ukraine, June, 19-20, 2008)
O.Bezhan delivered reports at university conferences in Odessa and Berdyansk.

5. Our publications on the US literature and culture are represented not only in our year-book (#4, "Discourse of Romanticism in Literature", Kyiv, 2007), but also in numerous volumes.
T.Myhed – the text-book "The Guide to Literature of American Renaissance. 1810-1860", Kyiv, KSU, 2008.
N.Vysotska: Dialectics of “presence / absence" as a textual strategy of constructing the different culture identity // Language, culture and education in the modern world. Kyiv, KNLU, 2008; “They Just Gunned Him Down Uhgain”: Suzan-Lori Parks’ The America Play as an African American comment on US Democratic History // Voices from within the Veil: African Americans and the Experience of Democracy, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2008; Why did Orpheus look back? Gender re-centering of the mythological story in the play "Euridika" by Sara Rule // Southern Archive. Collection of philological works, vol. 42, Kherson, KhSU, 2008; Metamorphoses of the butterfly: transformation in the play by J.H.Huang "M.Butterfly" and the dilogy by B.Akunin "Diamond Chariot" // East in the West, West in the East: thwe dialogue of cultural and artistic paradigms, KNLU, 2008; "Butterfly's Flight": of the traditional ideological and imagery complex in the play by J.H.Huang "M.Butterfly" and the dilogy by B.Akunin "Diamond Chariot" // Russia-East-West. Problems of intercultural communication. Proceedings of the 3rd international research conference, Vladivostok, 2007.
O.Dubinina: "About the child, but for adults (collection by W.Styron "A Tidewater Morning"), "Sich", 2008; "Narrative functions of the time organization of the text in novels by W.Styron” – Modern Literary Studies, 2007, KNLU; „Death of the Discipline”, or American Comparative Studies in the time of heterogeneity” – "Literary Comparative Studies”, 2008.
M.Shymchyshyn prepared and published eight articles in publications authorized by the VAK of Ukraine: Epistemiological displacement in the sphere of literature and the practice of criticism in the context of the Eurocentrism crisis; Traumatic experience of slavery in the novel by J.Fosset's novel “Mess”; The Primitive as the Other in aesthetics of modernism”; Re / deconstruction of motherhood in the postmodern literary project”; Space of female writing in the Afro-American literary canon; Other than I or my Other I: the component of the white culture in the context of Harlem Renaissance; Three paradigms of writing: N. Larsen, Z.N. Hurston and J. Fosset; The process of reading as identity transformation.

6. All alumni of Fulbright Program and Kennan Institute took part in work of annual conferences (November) of these foundations. Our cooperation with these institutions, due to which we have the opportunity to enjoy direct links with the subjects of our researches, is systematic, regular, invigorating. We express our gratitude for that to all the staff of Fulbright Foundation and Kennan Institute.

7. We keep close contacts with J.Demiray Resource Center – we take part in activities conducted by it. Now we have started a more active form of cooperation - holding thematic sessions with teachers of English consolidated by the Center by our experts – G.Stembkovska has conducted the first session of the series.

8. Our cooperation with Fulbright Center is live and fruitful. We not only work on its territory and are very grateful for hospitality and warmth with which they cooperate with us, but also permanently use the opportunity of direct scholar contacts, which it provides for researchers. In this year, the Fulbright grant for visiting the USA was obtained by T.Ostapchuk and O.Babych, now N.Shpyliova is working there.

9. Work on preparing elective courses in American Literature for publication by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine has been continued. 17 outline plans have been collected from the future authors of the publication. It is planned to finish the preparatory work in 2009-2010.
During the year, the CALSU web site (www.calsu.kiev.ua) has been functioning, on which, due to efforts of G.Stembkovska and D.Stembkovsky, all information about activities of the Center, as well as other research activities where CALSU participants are invited was published.

10. Collaboration with the publishing house "Nauka" was started, the latter offered to us a vast and rich in content program of releasing reference dictionaries.
Due to activity of the publishing house, our year-book "Romanticism in the Continuum of the US literature" was placed on the Internet

The report was discussed and approved by participants of the CALSU conference on January, 20, 2009.


CALSU Coordinator Doctor of Philology, Prof.
T. DENYSOVA
Director of the Institute of Literature, NASU Academician
M.ZHULYNSKY

Report on the CALSU Activity in 2007

Report on the CALSU Activity in 2006