Слідами «Білої Панни»: про одну сторінку діяльності Євгенії Ярошинської як перекладачки та її контекст

Abstract

The article highlights the creative profile of the Ukrainian writer Yevhenia Yaroshyns’ka (1868–1904) as a translator. Literary science has not touched upon this topic yet. The only exception is her translations of the Czech writer and teacher Vilma Sokolova. Speaking about Y. Yaroshyns’ka’s interest to the literature of other nations, we state that it was organically connected with her great love for reading. That array was naturally dominated by German translations of the world literature. Joining this activity seemed tempting, because it was also a way to gain experience, to test her own strength and the opportunity to promote the problems of the Ukrainian reality. This is the main reason for Y. Yaroshynska’s appeal to create the German translation of Hryhoriy Machtet’s novel «The White Lady» based on the Ukrainian material. The article clarifies the life and activities of this Ukrainian and Russian writer and his connections with the Ukrainian socio-cultural environment, which also led to the autobiographical aspect of the story. The work is full of sympathy for the participants of the Polish uprising of 1863 and the desire for peaceful understanding between the Slavs. At the same time, it was based on a romantic collision. To obtain the permission to publish the translation, Y. Yaroshyns’ka addressed M. Pavlyk who asked in Moscow Nestor Yavorovs’kyi, apparently the Ukrainian student (from the circle of A. Kryms’kyi), who helped the writer to realize her idea. In the article the letters of N. Yavorovs’kyi and H. Machtet to Y. Yaroshyns’ka are published for the first time and their destiny is outlined. When they got to M. Pavlyk, he prepared them for publication, but they never saw the light. The further fate of the translation of «The White Lady» remained unknown. The article names the published examples of Y. Yaroshyns’ka’s translation activity (these are the translations from Bulgarian, Norwegian, Czech languages). The need for a more comprehensive study of this important and interesting topic is also required. The article touches upon the importance to intensify the efforts of scholars to master the body of archival documents related to Y. Yaroshyns’ka. They are stored mainly in the Department of Manuscripts and Textology of the Taras Shevchenko Institute of Literature of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, the Central State Historical Archive of Ukraine in Lviv and the V. Stefanyk Lviv National Scientific Library. Obviously, only in this way – having thoroughly studied the source base, knowing the author’s biography and her artistic heritage – we can hope for deeper understanding of the peculiarities of the development of her creative personality.