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[KOBYLYANS’KA] Al´manakh u pam’yatku ii sorokalitn´oyi pys´mennyts´koyi diyal´nosty [i.e. Olha Kobylyanska. Almanac in memory of her forty years of writing activity]

Ol´ha Kobylyans´ka

Item #2504

Chernivtsy: Jubilee committee, 1928. 311, [2] p. 23×15,5 cm. In original publisher’s wrappers. Small tears of the spine, soviet receipt posted down the verso of the front cover, but generally very good.

First and only edition. Rare provincial imprint.
The book is a celebration of the literary career of Ukrainian classical writer Olha Kobylianska, featuring poetry, written by the leading Ukrainian authors in order to congratulate Kobylianska, memoirs about her by the fellow writers, her own autobiography and a few short pieces, written specially for the ‘Almanac’, the chronicle of the celebratory events in other parts of Ukraine, letters from the readers of Kobylianska from around the world, and the first complete bibliography of Kobylianska’s works to the date.
Among the notable contributors to the collection are: Oleksandr Oles (real name Kandyba; 1878–1944), originally from Kharkiv, a symbolist poet known for his verse about WWI; Olha Duchimska (1883–1988) , the poet of Hutsulshchyna and Boykovshchyna and the researcher of the local folklore, Katria Hrynevycheva (1875–1942), educator, and feminist. An activist in the women’s movement in Galicia, head of the Union of Ukrainian Women; young women writers Henya Galushinska, Olha Pavlyukh-Guzareva, Zenovia Buracinska as well as local authors from Chernivtsy.

Olha Kobylianska (1863–1942), a Bukovinaborn writer relatively unknown in the West, is considered a foundational figure in Ukrainian feminism theory and literature. Her education and familial traditions shaped a unique voice. Joining her familiarity of Bukovina (modern Romania) local realities, Western and Russian literary traditions, she became highly aware of the dissatisfactory, suppressed state of Ukraine culture representation. Her mother was Ukrainian, her father was German who nevertheless learned Ukrainian to express love and affection toward his wife – showing to daughter what cultural respect looks like. Contrasting her family, Kobylianska saw little advancements of Ukrainian. self-representation both in the Western and Eastern lands.
Kobylianska managed to live a relatively long life and had a prolific career as a writer: starting at 10 with Polish verses, she authored German, Ukrainian, Polish works. Later Kobylianska found inspiration in a handful of independent friends who encouraged her to not just focus on the problematics of feminism, but to write in Ukrainian. Her first Ukrainian publication appeared in 1893.
In early 1890’s Kobylianska co-founded Tovarystvo ruskykh zhinok na Bukovyni: a foremost feminist circle opposing the Kinder-Kuche-Kirche triad. Kobylianska knew well what kind of disparity a woman could endure: she was coming from an intelligent but not a rich family and was destined to be busy with household activities. Her program speech was published as a brochure in 1894. She quoted Goethe and stated the importance of education as a way out of the “slave mentality”. That 1894 text is considered the first feminist paper printed by an Ukrainian author. Kobylianska exemplified the possibility of female independence, managing to buy a house from her literary earnings. Kobylianska was fluent in at least 4 languages besides Ukrainian; this helped her to develop a nuanced, rich and precise tone of writing outside the common grieving of national injustice. During her teenagehood Kobylianska started with lyricism; but, feeding on real-world problems, her style rapidly evolved into modernism, exploring social problems and multilayered psychological conflicts relatable to any human.
One of the figures who influenced her views was Ukrainian classic Lesya Ukrainka, whom Kobylianska met and befriended in 1890’s. Some research assumes that Ukrainka and Kobylianska were in a love relationship; this, however, is based on interpretations of her classic Valse melancolique and speculations over the letters to Ukrainka.

Wordlcat doesn’t track this edition.

Price: $1,250.00