Lada Kolomiyets

Unveiling the hidden narratives of translation and folklore

As a researcher of translation and culture in Eastern Europe, I have been interested in the history of translation in the countries of the former Soviet bloc, particularly in Ukraine, and the history of censorship as part of state policy regarding original and translated literature in Eastern Europe. I also researched Ukrainian literature in a comparative perspective and from different points of view, in particular, as foreign literature in English translations. Cultural and ideological issues of the change of Ukrainian identity in the 20th – early 21st century, post-communist transformation and points of linguistic manipulation are in the focus of my research interests in a broader sense. Recently I completed a historiographic study of Ukrainian literary translation and translators in the 1920s-30s. Currently I am also preparing for publication my new monograph on translation as a political activity, Russification and Censorship in Eastern Europe, consolidating my previous studies in theory and history of translation. A new project in cultural studies that I have recently begun as contributing editor is a collection of essays Living the Independence Dream: Ukraine and Ukrainians in the Contemporary Socio-Political Context, which aims to analyze the agency of contemporary Ukrainian people, and the role of media, literature, and digital folklore in creating new messages, meanings, and values formed during the Independence decades.

Academic Appointments

• September 1, 2022 – current Visiting Professor, Department of East European, Eurasian and Russian Studies, Dartmouth College
• Professor, Department of Translation Theory and Practice from the English Language, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Ukraine
• Head of Department of Translation Theory and Practice from the English Language, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Ukraine

Education

04/2007 - Post-Doctorate degree: Advanced Scholarly Research in English-Ukrainian Poetic Translation (Postdoctoral dissertation, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv)
Credential: Diploma of Doctor of Philological Sciences, specialization in Translation Studies. Institution: Higher Attestation Commission of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine
This program also included a thesis entitled “Evolution of Trends in English-Ukrainian Poetic Translation of the Late 19th – Early 21st Centuries”
02/2002 - Certificate of Assistant Professor, Academic Title of Associate Professor of Department of Theory and Practice of Translation of Germanic Languages. Institution: Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine
07/1997 - Certificate confirming professional training at the University of Iowa
Credential: Certificate of successful completion of an academic and professional training program at the University of Iowa, from August 1996 to July 1997, arranged under the auspices of the USIA Junior Faculty Development Program
10/1992 - Doctorate degree, major area of study: Ukrainian Literary Theory and Literary Criticism
Credential: Diploma of Candidate of Philological Sciences (PhD). Institution: Higher Attestation Commission of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine
This program also included a thesis entitled “Features of Poetics of the Literary Prose Works by Valerian Pidmohylnyi”
06/1989 - Bachelor degree and Master degree, major area of study: Ukrainian Language and Literature
Credential: Diploma confirming the qualification of Philologist, Instructor of Ukrainian Language and Literature. Institution: Taras Shevchenko State University of Kyiv, Ukraine