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Bohdan Tokarsky

bohdan tokarsky

College:

St John's College

Contact details:

bt330@cam.ac.uk

Research

In my research, I am focussing on the works of a prominent Ukrainian poet, Vasyl Stus, studying the self-exploration of the lyrical ‘I’ in his works and the new poetical language that Stus introduced. It is important to me to place the poetry of this leading figure of twentieth century Ukrainian literature within a broader cultural landscape and show the significance of discovering the Other and overcoming ‘the provincialism of big nations’ according to Milan Kundera’s apt formula. I am also working on the ‘ciphered’ texts and masks of Ukrainian modernism, the Garrotted Renaissance, and the complex articulation of the ‘I’ therein. Moreover, I am extremely enthusiastic about discovering the culture of laughter in Ukraine in the sixteenth – nineteenth centuries, and its national, social and religious implications.            

Awards:

  • Gates Cambridge Scholarship
  • St. John’s Benefactors’ Scholarship
  • Cambridge-Ukrainian Studentship

Languages (in addition to English)

Ukrainian, Russian, French, German