The Department of Literary Theory and Comparative Literary Studies

  • About the Department
  • Strategy
  • History of the department
  • Employees
  • Research
  • Teaching materials
  • Lecturers' schedule
  • News

Educational programs:

The department prepares specialists of the first (bachelor’s) and second (master’s) levels in the specialty 035 Philology (specialization – 035.01 Ukrainian language and literature, educational program “Creative Writing”). Since 2002, a postgraduate program has been operating at the department, two doctoral and 16 candidate theses were defended.

Strategy

Strategy of the department

Mission:

The Department of Theory of Literature and Comparative Literature is one of the leading educational and scholarly centers of Ukraine and Europe. Relying on the fundamental basis of the philological tradition of Ivan Franko Lviv National University, the department continues to develop the heritage of the literary scholarly school in the field of philology. The department trains specialists in creative writing, literary theory, and comparative studies.

At the department work well-known literary scholars. This authors of influential monographs participate in many international forums and conferences, scholarly projects, etc. Among the University professors and lecturers are theorists and historians of literature, translators of artistic works, and popularizers of Ukrainian literature. The department’s employees are focused on strengthening the scientific and intellectual base of the country, forming new generations of the Ukrainian intellectual elite—educated, conscious, spiritually rich citizens.

Vision:

The Department of Theory of Literary and Comparative Literary is focused on maintaining its high status as one of the leading scientific and educational centers in the field of literary studies, developing an intellectual environment and popularizing humanitarianism among the younger generation, and establishing the traditions of the Lviv school in the field of Comparative Literature. The department should be a prestigious place for acquiring a specialty for philologically gifted young people, a center of cultural progress and international cooperation, a center for the popularization of Ukrainian literature in Europe and the world.

Perspectives:

The department conduct studies on “Literature and history: Anthropos—topos—tropos” within the framework of the research topic “Ukrainian mainland and diaspora literature: texts and contexts” (state registration No. 0121U110149).

Employees

Chairperson, Professor (by-worker)Mykhailo HnatyukChairperson, Professor (by-worker)
ProfessorOlena HaletaProfessor
ProfessorMykola IlnytskyiProfessor
ProfessorMykola LehkyiProfessor
Associate ProfessorVasyl BudnyyAssociate Professor
Associate ProfessorMaryana CheletskaAssociate Professor
Associate ProfessorUlyana FedorivAssociate Professor
Associate ProfessorMaryana HirnyakAssociate Professor
Associate ProfessorTaras LuchukAssociate Professor
Associate ProfessorOleksandra SaliiAssociate Professor
Associate ProfessorMariya ZubrytskaAssociate Professor
LecturerYuliya TeplaLecturer

Lecturers' schedule



Teaching materials

Textbooks:

  • Hnatiuk M. History of Ukrainian Literary Criticism (XIX- early XX c.): Textbook // Mykhailo Hnatiuk. – Lviv – Brno, 2013. – p. 180

Manuals:

  •  Budnyi V., Ilnytskyi M. Comparative Literature: Textbook for Students of Higher Education. – Kyiv: Kyiv-Mohyla Academy Publishing House, 2008. – p. 430.
  • Ilnytskyi M., Budnyi V. Historical Literary Studies: In 2 parts. Part I. Lecture Course: A Study Guide. – Lviv: Ivan Franko University Center for Publishing, 2007. – p.280.
  •  Ilnytskyi M., Budnyi. Comparative Literary Studies: In 2 parts. Part II. Practical exercises: Textbook. – Lviv: Publishing Center of the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, 2007. – p.144.
  • Ilnytskyi M. Ukrainian Literary Thought in the XX Century (Western Ukraine, Emigration): Textbook. Lviv: I. Franko National University. I. Franko, 2015. p.352.
  • Hnatiuk M. Ivan Franko and the Problems of Literary Theory: Textbook / M. I. Hnatiuk. – p. 240.

Methodological recommendations:

Elearning courses

 “The socialist realist canon in Ukrainian literature: A modern reinterpretation” (by associate professor Ulyana Fedoriv)

“Theory of Literature” (by Professor Olena Haleta)

Research

Conferences:

• “Classical poetics and aesthetics of the postmodern era: denial or transformation?” (2003)

• “Literature in the system of interdisciplinary relations” (2007)

• “Reaching literature at the crossroads of ages (on 75th anniversary of prof. Mykola Ilnytskyi)” (2009)

• “Art is created by rage and reason” (on 100th anniversary of Bohdan Ihor Antonych)” (2009)

• “Literature on the borderland: ambivalence, hybridity, overcoming borders” (2012)

• “Generational phenomenon as rebellion and de(con)struction” (2017)

• “Literature and history: Anthropos—topos—tropos” (2021)

History of the department

Theoretical problems of literature and comparative literary studies have been studied at Ivan Franko National University of Lviv since the beginning of its functioning as a classical European university of the XIX-XX centuries. The roots of this Department go back to 1909 when the Department of Comparative Literary Studies was founded at Lviv National University. The first Head of the Department was Jan Kasprowicz.

A new stage in the study of literary theory and comparative studies is associated with the period of independence of Ukraine when in 2001 the Department of Literary Theory and Comparative Literary Studies was established at the university. The main task of the Department was to give a new impetus to the theoretical and comparative work of literary scholars of the university and of the whole Ukraine. During the period of 2001-2018 the Department was headed by Correspondent Member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and Professor Mykola Ilnytskyi, since 2018 – by Professor Mykhailo Hnatiuk. Since its inception, a team of scholars has been formed (3 Doctors of Philology and 6 Candidates of Philological Sciences) who make a significant contribution to the development of Philology.

Since 2010, the Department has been preparing graduates in the educational program ‘Literary Art’ of the second (Master’s) educational and scientific degree of higher education for students majoring in 035 Philology, and since 2019 – the first (Bachelor’s) educational and scientific degree of higher education for students majoring in 035 Philology.

The Department of Literary Theory and Comparative Literary Studies is focused on maintaining its high status as one of the leading scholarly and educational centers in the field of literary studies, developing intellectual milieu and popularizing humanities among the younger generation, establishing Lviv comparative school. Ukrainian renowned scholars, who are also famous in international scholarly circles, work at the Department, in particular M. Ilnytskyi, M. Hnatiuk, O. Haleta, V. Budnyi, M. Zubrytska, T. Luchuk, M.Hirniak, M. Cheletska, U. Fedoriv, Yu. Tepla. These are the authors of influential monographs, well-known literary theorists, comparatists, translators of fiction, popularizers of Ukrainian literature, who participate in international scientific forums and research projects. The Department has become a prestigious place for philologically gifted young people to gain specialist expertise, a center of cultural progress and international cooperation.

Lost Horse Press Contemporary Ukrainian Poetry Series

28.03.2024 | 22:50

In 2017, Christine Holbert (publisher) and Grace Mahoney (series editor) established the Lost Horse Press Contemporary Ukrainian Poetry Series. The series features dual-language editions of poetry from Ukraine’s most significant poets operating in the contemporary context. These critically-acclaimed and award-winning books showcase the diversity of poets who write from a range of geographies, poetic perspectives, and literary movements. Of critical importance is the fact that many of the poems featured in this series meditate on the significance of Ukraine’s independence and the positionality of...

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Dispatches From Lviv, A Conversation With Halyna Kruk, Dzvinia Orlowsky, Ali Kinsella, and Chard deNiord

06.02.2024 | 15:59

After reading Dzvinia Orlowsky’s and Ali Kinsella’s translations of Halyna Kruk’s new manuscript of poems titled Lost in Living, I wasn’t sure at first just how to broach the profoundly grievous but also transcendent subject matter of Kruk’s poems. I was curious about how a poet in the midst of devastating war could write about both her country’s and her own personal losses with what William Butler Yeats called “a cold eye.” Kruk’s poetry rises memorably to the occasion of its subject matter...

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Writing under Fire Poetry and Prose from Ukraine and the Black Country

02.02.2024 | 16:13

On February 3rd, the English team will launch “Writing under Fire: Poetry and Prose from Ukraine and the Black Country,” a collection featuring 10 Ukrainian writers reflecting on the Russian war. Responding to them, 10 writers from the Black Country aim to establish a transcultural dialogue, supporting Ukrainian artists. Proceeds go to Ukrainian writers and readers, dedicated to the late Victoria Amelina.
Join the event in the Georgian Gallery on February 3rd at 6:30.
https://www.wolvesliteraturefestival.co.uk/events/writing-under-fire.html?fbclid=IwAR13XijRUtzXFHw6jSd4I4Lyq76THdAgrFACO6eTelWhw_xYNJztTzgvZho

 
 
 
 

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In the Hour of War: Poems from Ukraine

04.01.2024 | 13:07

In the Hour of War: Poems from Ukraine

“This is the silence before the explosion, between volleys of rifle fire, the silence of foreboding, of fear and insomnia, and the silence of complicity. The poems were written in the hour of war, in the lyrics of passing through fire….” So write the editors, two of America’s most significant poets, Carolyn Forché and Ilya Kaminsky, in their introduction.
Ukraine may be the only country on earth that owes its existence, at least in...

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LAUNCHING PAPER BOATS OF HOPE: Five Poems by Halyna Kruk

06.12.2023 | 10:34

These poems were originally published in Italian translation by Alessandro Achilli and Yarina Grusha Possamai in the anthology Poeti d’Ucraina, Mondadori 2022, Pina Piccolo’s translation is based on their Italian version.

STOPPING THE FALL
Stopping the fall
for three carefree days in Rimini
where in the Piazza dell’Agnolo’s fountain you
still
launch paper boats of hopes
but they never return…
 
 
WOMAN WITH A LOBSTER HEAD
Woman with the head of a lobster
and the body of a jellyfish,
why do you say in this incomprehensible language Read more »