Reclaiming Ukrainian Linguistic Identity: Unraveling Russification in Soviet-era Dictionaries

A lecture by Valentyna Savchyn, Associate Professor of Ukrainian Studies at Lund University and Lund-Harvard Visiting Fellow at HURI

Moderated by Megan K. Duncan Smith, Programs Manager at HURI

Attendees are invited to enjoy an informal lunch. 

About the Lecture

Dictionaries are often perceived as authoritative reference works and neutral linguistic tools for learning and understanding a language. Yet, despite their reputation for objectivity, they are not immune to the influence of ideology and power. This paper examines the intricate relationship between lexicography and language policy in Soviet Ukraine, demonstrating how dictionaries were used to establish linguistic norms favoring the dominant language. It focuses on bilingual Russian-Ukrainian dictionaries, particularly those published between the 1920s and the 1960s. By tracing the evolution of Ukrainian-language entries in these dictionaries, the paper reveals both overt and subtle mechanisms used to erode and reshape the Ukrainian language.

About the Speaker

Valentyna Savchyn is an Associate Professor of Ukrainian Studies at Lund University in Sweden, where she teaches Ukrainian language and literature. She is also a researcher on the project De/colonizing Ukraine: Practices of Russification and Modes of Resistance, 1922-1991, funded by the Foundation for Baltic and East European Studies. She holds a PhD in Translation Studies from the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. Her research encompasses diverse aspects of the Ukrainian language, with a particular focus on language policy, lexicography, and literary translation within the historical context of Soviet Ukraine. She examines the strategies employed by translators and lexicographers to resist Russification, as well as issues of censorship and the practice of literary translation in Soviet labor camps. She is the author of the book Mykola Lukash as a Pillar of Ukrainian Literary Translation and has published extensively in Ukrainian and Western journals and edited volumes. Her research experience and academic network have been enriched through her residential fellowship at the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study, Uppsala University (2021-2023), a research stay at Stockholm University (2019-2020), as well as visiting fellowships at the University of Turku, the Institute for Human Sciences (IWM) in Vienna, University of Rzeszów, and a long-standing tenure at the Department of Translation Studies and Contrastive Linguistics at the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv (2000-2023). Savchyn is currently a Lund-Harvard Visiting Fellow at HURI, supported by Einar Hansens Allhemsstiftelse.

 

This event is organized by the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute as part of the Ukraine Study Group public event series. 

Persons with disabilities who wish to request accommodations or who have questions about access should contact HURI Programs Manager, Megan K. Duncan Smith, at least two weeks in advance of the session.

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