Smoloskyp publishing house in
Kyiv has recently published the third volume of the diary of the prominent
Ukrainian political figure, prose writer, playwright, and painter Volodymyr
Vynnychenko (1880–1951). This is a cooperative effort on the part of the Shevchenko
Institute of Literature at the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine,
the Vynnychenko Commission of the Ukrainian Academy of Arts and Sciences in the
USA,
and the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies. The new volume (624 pp.)
contains systematic daily notes made by Vynnychenko during the years 1926–28
and is a continuation of two previous volumes published by CIUS Press in 1980
(1911–20) and 1983 (1921–25).
Volume 3 of Vynnychenko’s
diary was prepared for publication in the 1990s, but its appearance in print
was delayed for a variety of reasons. It was edited by Dr. Alexander Motyl, a
well-known political scientist at Rutgers University,
and the late Hryhorii Kostiuk.
Vynnychenko’s diary for
1926–28 is valuable in a number of ways. As an important historical document,
it contains the observations of a former prime minister and chairman of the
Directory on events in Soviet Ukraine, including the New Economic Policy, the
indigenization of Ukrainian culture, the return-to-the-homeland movement, and Moscow’s
policies toward Ukraine. As
a literary document, the diary gives readers access to the creative laboratory
of Vynnychenko the writer as he contemplates such projects as the novel Poklady
zolota (Deposits of Gold) and the play Nad and monitors the
publication of his utopian novel Soniachna mashyna (The Solar Machine),
the most popular work of fiction in Ukraine at
the time. As an emigrant, he reflects on his state of mind, divided between his
homeland and his country of residence, closely observes various aspects of
émigré life, and comments on the complex European situation. This unique
document, full of intimate reflections, political visions, and philosophical
and psychological contemplations, will be of interest to a broad audience
concerned with Ukrainian and world literature, culture, and history.
The new volume broadens
access to Vynnychenko’s rich legacy, a good deal of which remains unpublished.
After Vynnychenko’s death, with the consent of his wife, Rozaliia, his large
archive was brought to Columbia University and
housed at the Bakhmeteff Archive of Russian and East European Culture
(recently it was transferred to Princeton University for
a brief period). Besides Vynnychenko’s diaries for 1929–51, other works of his,
including the philosophical treaties Shchastia (Happiness) and Konkordyzm
(Concordism), the novel Vichnyi imperatyv (Eternal Imperative), and his
correspondence, have yet to be published. According to Vynnychenko’s will, his
archive was to be transferred to Ukraine
once it attained independence. To date, only his paintings have been returned
to his homeland.
The book is available in
hardcover for $49.99. Order all three volumes of Volodymyr Vynnychenko’s Diary
and save 20% for a total of $103.91.