The Ukrainian Project in the Free World: The Ukrainian Shakespeare Society

Abstract

This article analyses the activities of the Ukrainian Shakespeare Society between 1957 and 1990 as a unique project of the Ukrainian diaspora. It draws attention to the organisational, scientific and publishing activities of its most prominent members, with a particular focus on Ihor Kostetskyi and Jaroslav Rudnyckyj. The materials analysed in the article provide new insights into the organisational and promotional activities of the Society (UShT). The Ukrainian Shakespeare Society was a significant cultural and scientific project. Aiming to represent the true values and traditions of Ukrainians, fundamentally different from those proclaimed by propaganda in the Soviet Union, the members of the Society contributed to the spread of Ukrainian culture beyond the borders of Soviet Ukraine. The Society’s activities involved the publication of translations of Shakespeare’s works and Shakespeare studies by authors banned in Soviet Ukraine for being “enemies of the nation” (such as Todos Osmachka). Founded in 1957 and active for over thirty years, the Society’s primary goals were to develop and promote Ukrainian culture in the European and global context, in contrast to the presentation of the Soviet version of Ukrainian culture as the only “correct” one. This activity focused on two basic goals. On the one hand, it was a continuation of the Ukrainian tradition in translations and studies of Shakespeare, initiated by Osyp Fedkovych, Panteleimon Kulish, and Ivan Franko. On the other hand, the Society became a significant Ukrainian cultural institution that promoted the study and translation of Shakespeare’s works by Ukrainian authors abroad.