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Kobzar Hardcover – Illustrated, October 11, 2013

by Taras Shevchenko (Author), Peter Fedynsky (Translator)
4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 89 ratings
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Masterfully fulfilled by Peter Fedynsky, Voice of America journalist and expert on Ukrainian studies, this first ever English translation of the complete Kobzar brings out Ukraine's rich cultural heritage.
As a foundational text, The Kobzar by Taras Shevchenko has played an important role in galvanizing the Ukrainian identity and in the development of Ukraine's written language and Ukrainian literature. The first editions had been censored by the Russian czar, but the book still made an enduring impact on Ukrainian culture. There is no reliable count of how many editions of the book have been published, but an official estimate made in 1976 put the figure in Ukraine at 110 during the Soviet period alone. That figure does not include Kobzars released before and after both in Ukraine and abroad. A multitude of translations of Shevchenko's verse into Slavic, Germanic and Romance languages, as well as Chinese, Japanese, Bengali, and many others attest to his impact on world culture as well. The poet is honored with more than 1250 monuments in Ukraine, and at least 125 worldwide, including such capitals as Washington, Ottawa, Buenos Aires, Warsaw, Moscow and Tashkent.


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Previous page
  1. Print length
    452 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Glagoslav Publications B.V.
  4. Publication date
    October 11, 2013
  5. Dimensions
    6.5 x 1.3 x 9.3 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1909156558
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1909156555
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Taras Shevchenko deserves an entire school of translators, especially today. He arose out of serfdom to become a groundbreaking poet and an object of the ire of Russian Tsar Nikolai I; in the process, he did nothing less than help shape modern Ukraine, the largest country within the continent of Europe. Yet Shevchenko remains a relatively poorly known figure in world literature. Fedynsky's accessible, no-frills translation of his entire collected verse seeks to change this state of affairs. With enthusiasm and care, it sets out to showcase the breadth of the poet's concerns and to convey the fullness of his message of freedom and justice to Ukraine, and to the world.

Rory Finnan Director,

Ukrainian Studies Program Cambridge University


I cannot help but instantiate some of the translator's manifold contrivances and witty finds in rendering multiple national geographic and personal names with descriptive or symbolic elements, so that their pragmatic meaning or significance might "shine through" for English readers. Fedynsky has also supplied additional footnotes on important historical characters and significant geographic names, on the turning points in Ukraine's history once forbidden to be mentioned by Moscow authorities.

Lada Kolomiyets Chair,

English Translation Department Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv

"Contrary to the majority of preceding translators, to the entire school of literary, or artistic, translation which is much respected and highly developed in today's Ukrainian translation tradition, Mr. Fedynsky defies Shevchenko's rule of vocalic quality and the overall idealistic endeavor to recreate the source text's vocal harmony, while concurrently remaining faithful to its semantic consistency."

Lada Kolomiyets, The Ukrainian Quarterly

About the Author

Taras Shevchenko (1814-1861) was a Ukrainian author and artist. The Kobzar, which he worked on for nearly 25 years, is considered his masterpiece. His works are celebrated worldwide in museums and cultural centres named after him.Shevchenko has a special place in Ukrainian history: his poetry is considered to be a foundation for modern written Ukrainian and for Ukrainian literature. Aside from his literary work, his paintings earned him many awards and a professional title from the Imperial Academy of Arts.Born into serfdom, Shevchenko experienced poverty from an early age. By the age of 11, he had lost both his parents, but before passing away, his father managed to get him an apprenticeship with a deacon, who taught the young boy to read and write. After the death of his parents, Shevchenko was an itinerant worker until the age of fourteen, when he became a house servant with his overlord, Pavel Engelhardt.The boy showed an early talent for art. At 15, he travelled with Engelhardt to St. Petersburg and was given a series of apprenticeships. Eventually, he came to the attention of several prominent intellectuals, including Russia's finest living painter, Karl Briullov, and poet Vasily Zhukovsky, who was the tutor of future Czar Alexander II. They bought Shevchenko's freedom for 2,500 rubles by auctioning off one of Bruillov's portraits of Zhukovsky. In 1838, Shevchenko was accepted into the Imperial Academy of Arts as Briullov's student.The first half of the 1840s is considered propitious for the artist. Having written poetry since 1837, Shevchenko published his first Kobzar in 1840. The collection earned him critical and popular acclaim, and his status as a cultural figure was on the rise. He returned to Ukraine for the first time at the age of 29, travelling extensively for a critical three year period from 1843-45 that resulted in a series of paintings and some of his most penetrating and patriotic verse. In Kyiv, he joined the Cyril and Methodius Brotherhood, a secret organization that advocated the abolition of serfdom and also the right of every Slavic nation to develop its own culture and language. His membership in the Brotherhood, deemed subversive by czarist authorities, as well as his controversial poetry, led to Shevchenko's arrest in 1847. He was then exiled with a military detachment to Orenburg on the edge of the Ural Mountains. Czar Nicholas I personally prohibited Shevchenko from writing or painting.Shevchenko, however, violated the Czar's orders. Such insubordination led to even deeper banishment to the town of Novopetrovsk on the desolate eastern shore of the Caspian Sea. (In honour of the poet, the city was renamed Shevchenko in 1963). His friends, including members of the prominent Tolstoy family, appealed for his release, which finally came in 1857.Shevchenko's health was permanently affected by the ordeal, but his creative output remained strong. In 1860, the Imperial Academy of Arts honoured the artist with a professional academic title. Soon after, his health deteriorated and he died of heart failure on March 10, 1861- seven days before the abolition of serfdom was formally announced.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Glagoslav Publications B.V.; Illustrated edition (October 11, 2013)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 452 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1909156558
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1909156555
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.92 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 1.3 x 9.3 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 89 ratings

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Customer reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars
4.8 out of 5
89 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Ryan
5.0 out of 5 stars Krazy about Kobzar
Reviewed in the United States on April 28, 2015
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The English translation of The Complete Kobzar, translated by Peter Fedynsky, is a fascinating work of poems by the most notable poet in Ukrainian history, Taras Shevchenko. The collection is incredibly significant to the Ukrainian peoples as well as peoples of the world.

One man, Shevchenko, influenced a whole Soviet nation through word and picture. He gave a sense of identity to people who were long oppressed under Soviet rule by using the image of a Kobzar. Kobzar and kobza are easily identifiable as Ukrainian symbols of story-telling and sharing. Shevchenko essentially was a Kobzar; his stories, old or contemporary, acted as his kobza. With his works, Shevchenko gave light to what being Ukrainian meant and what Ukraine as a nation looked like. For example, within the first stanza of The Caucasus Shevchenko describes massive mountains “shrouded in clouds, seeded by grief and showered with blood”. Not only does his work give a detailed look at the Ukrainian landscape but it also depicts the struggle that Ukrainians suffered under Soviet rule. Shevchenko also personified Ukraine through his works and in doing so he consequently created the Ukrainian identity that separated Ukraine from its Soviet comrades.

Shevchenko’s work is important because it not only supported the development of the Ukrainian language and literature, but it also started to define Ukraine as a nation and Ukrainian as a nationality. Shevchenko’s poems were very powerful and contained many messages about relationships Ukraine held with other nations. His poem Kateryna directly tells Ukrainian women not to trust Muscovite men and their conquests. In some of Shevchenko’s poems he ridicules Russian diplomats, even Tsar Nicolas at one point! These poems, particularly Dream (A Comedy), clearly were more satirical and offensive because they got Shevchenko thrown in jail over unsatisfactorily describing the Tsar’s wife.

The Kobzar is a great read and has a large range of poems that span from entertainment to lament. A very intriguing and thought-inspiring work of art, it contributes greatly to the understanding of the modern Ukrainian identity and what it means to be Ukrainian today. I would highly recommend the collection of poems to anyone, even if they are not interested in Ukrainian culture, because the language of Shevchenko’s poems is very captivating and it paints vivid pictures of an interesting culture.
6 people found this helpful
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reincarnated Victorian
5.0 out of 5 stars a valuable addition to my library
Reviewed in the United States on March 7, 2014
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I wanted to be a literature professor when I grew up, but instead ended up a mathematician, but deep down literature and books have always been an important part of my life. I have considered Taras Shevchenko one of my favorite poet for most of my life and this is the first known English translation of his entire collection of poetry. I find his poetry mysterious, and mystical and timeless. I have taken independent study University classes in "understading Shevchenko" because so much of his poetry has been analyzed and reanalyzed and debated. Personally, I even know his poem, "the Plundered Grave" by heart in modern Ukrainian and have seen it in the original old Slavonic. This poem evokes memories of a different time and place, historical legends, the tears of a nation enslaved as well as personal memories of my Grandmother teaching it to me by rote when I was barely 5 years old. This year we celebrate 200 years since his birth and I ordered this book with no consideration of the historical changes that face Ukraine today only to realize that his poetry is equally relevant as I write this review.

One of his poems, written about 150 years ago is addressed "To the Dead, the Living, and to Those Yet Unborn, My Countrymen all Who Live in Ukraine and Outside Ukraine." (It is a lengthy poem and this is not the translation from this book. It is from my personal, albeit limited, collection of English translations of Shevchenko's work, and I apologize that I do not know who to credit with this translation)

" Men stand and trade their mutual chains
And barter truth for filthy gains,
Committing shame against the Lord
By harnessing for black reward
People in yokes and sowing evil
In fields commissioned by the Devil...'

and further in the poem Shevchenko writes,

"Look well into our history’s store
And read it closely, o’er and o’er;
That glorious tale you may have heard,—
But take it slowly, word by word;
No punctuation mark omit,
For even commas lend their bit;
Examine everything you see;
Then ask yourselves: Now, who are we?
Whose children? Of what fathers born?
By whom enslaved in utter scorn?
Then only will you understand
The Brutuses of this your land
Slaves, grovelers of Muscovy"

Reading this particular poem, it is truly as if he knew what Ukraine would face in the 21st century and a reflection of the fact that Ukraine has been under a strangers yoke though much of it's history.. As much as I think I understand his works, there are limitations to my knowledge of the Ukrainian language and history since I was born and educated in the west. Having a copy in English is invaluable because of the fine nuances that the author has thoughtfully explained. I had one question that had been bothering me for numerous years. The author, in one sentence, solved that bothersome decades old dilemma " why did he say that?" The translation is not so much classically poetic as emotionally poetic. The sense of meaning is there. And the elaborated asterisked passages are invaluable. If you love literature or want to understand the real history of Ukraine or even want to see a different society's perspective on 19th century women's issues you should find this book invaluable. If you are a lover or art, you need to include this in your collection because Shevchenko was an exceptional artist and even that aspect of his life is an amazing story on it's own.
37 people found this helpful
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ArodS
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing edition
Reviewed in the United States on March 12, 2024
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Such an amazing book full of valuable knowledge and beautiful poetry!
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Aleks Andrzejewski
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Book of Beautiful Poem
Reviewed in the United States on October 11, 2013
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Shevchenko has always been an inspiration to the Ukrainians. My father until his dying day at the age of 100 recited Shevchenko's poems from memory that he learned as a child. By his favorite reading couch, Kobzar in Ukrainian was within reach. Sadly, I do not know the written language and was deprived of sharing his pleasure. So I, like others, waited many years for an English translation of Shevchenko's work. I finally found it in Fedynsky's book--well worth the wait! Upon receipt of the book I quickly thumbed through the pages and was pleasantly surprised to find that the translator include Shevchenko's art work! The hardcover book is printed on beautiful cream colored paper exuding age as well as elegance. The poems are presented in two columns per page with the font a bit small for the older eye to read comfortably without glasses. The translator's front matter is informative and sets the stage for understanding and appreciating Shevchenko's work and life. The poems themselves are well translated conveying the intent and passion the Shevchenko put into words. When you read the poems you feel as if you are there with Shevchenko and, if you listen closely, you just may hear him speaking. The translator's work is impressive and has led me to purchase an electronic version directly from the publisher in order that I can always carry Shevchenko with me and at leisure peruse his writings. Bottom line, beautiful poems presented in an outstanding manner for the English speaker. Thank you Peter Fedynsky for your efforts in bringing his work to the English speaking world!
17 people found this helpful
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hotshot
5.0 out of 5 stars Important book in light of contemporary situation
Reviewed in the United States on April 13, 2024
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The “used” book arrived in excellent, like new, condition!
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Top reviews from other countries

Black Swan
5.0 out of 5 stars A great book
Reviewed in Canada on July 30, 2023
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A greatly researched book.
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Ivan M.
5.0 out of 5 stars Very good!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 19, 2022
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I've bought it as a present for my english friends. Thank you for selling it, the book's quality is really good
One person found this helpful
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Yarko
5.0 out of 5 stars Great edition!
Reviewed in Canada on April 12, 2020
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Great edition! Have it in hard cover. 9
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smp
5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for all
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 22, 2015
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Brilliant read, and it is not surprising that it was censored/banded in Russia. His writings/poems paints a vivid picture, which seems to be very appropriate in 2015, about the struggles Ukraine and Ukrainians endured at the hands of the Russians in the 1840s. He was obviously a very talented writer and at times it becomes a bit heavy to read (but I find the same with Shakespeare too, so its not a criticism really) and at times you can't but help feel the pain he obviously endured. A must read for all.
3 people found this helpful
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lidiawasylyn
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful translations that evoke the spirit and feel of the ...
Reviewed in Canada on May 13, 2016
Verified Purchase
You can never get too much Shevchenko! Wonderful translations that evoke the spirit and feel of the original.
Beautiful edition and great for any personal collection or community library. A must have for anyone with even a small interest in the works of this master poet.
One person found this helpful
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