Roksolana Zorivchak

Scientific degree: Doctor of Philological Sciences

Academic status: Professor

Biography

Zorivchak Roksolana Petrivna (b. Lviv, Ukraine, Nov. 8, 1934) – Doctor of Philological Sc., Professor, English and Translation/Interpreting Studies scholar, Outstanding Teacher and Educator of Ukraine (2002), Merited Worker of Education in Ukraine (2005).

After finishing secondary school in 1951 with a gold medal, Roksolana Zorivchak graduated cum laude from the Ivan Franko State (since 1999 – National) University of Lviv in 1956 with a major in English. In 1956–1991, Roksolana Zorivchak taught English at the Mykola Lyssenko State Conservatoire in Lviv,  holding the positions of a senior lecturer (1956–1977), docent (1977–1988), and, ultimately, professor (1988–1991) of the department of foreign languages.

Professor Zorivchak presented her candidate thesis (“The phraseological unit as a Translation Studies category”) in 1976 at the Taras Shevchenko State (since 1995 – National) University in Kyiv and her doctoral thesis (“The linguostylistic peculiarities of a literary text and translation”) at the same University in 1987. The English-language Shevchenkiana (the entire body of translations and research on Taras Shevchenko) constitutes Professor Zorivchak`s lifelong scholarly interest. She is a prolific author. During the totalitarian regime, much of her research could not be published due to all kinds of ideological obstacles. Only since 1990, an opportunity has arisen to make it known to a wider readership.

In the 1991-92 academic year, she was the first ever  British Council scholar to lecture on Ukrainian at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, London University, UK. In 1992–1998, Professor Zorivchak taught Contrastive Linguistics, Linguostylistics, Translation Studies and American Studies at the Department of English Philology at the Ivan Franko State University.  In 1997–1998, she was a Fulbright scholar at the Division of English as an International Language at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, IL. In 1998, Roksolana Zorivchak became Professor and Chairperson of the newly established Department of Translation/Interpreting Studies and Contrastive Linguistics at the Ivan Franko State University. Since then, she has been running theoretical courses in Translation Studies, History of Translation/Interpreting, Conference Interpreting, Theory and Practice of Consecutive and Simultaneous Interpreting, Introduction to Translation Studies, Contrastive Linguistics, Sociolinguistics and Reception of Anglophone Literature in Ukraine. She is presently working to develop a suitable framework for training translators and interpreters in Ukraine.

Publications

Author of monographs:

“Phraseological Unit as a Translation Category (on the Material of Translations of Works of Ukrainian Literature in English)” (1983),
“Reality and Rranslation (Based on English Translations of Ukrainian Prose)” (1989),
section “Ukrainian-English Literary Relations” (in the book: “Ukrainian Literature in the Slavic and World Literary Context”: In 5 vols. – K., 1988 – Vol. 3),
explorations (over 1200) on translation studies, contrastive linguistics and English in collective monographs, encyclopedic publications (in particular, in URE, ULE, the compendium “Ukrainian Language”), in Ukrainian and English linguistic press.
Initiator, scientific editor and author of the foreword to the bibliographic index “Hryhoriy Kochur” (Lviv: LNU, 1999), – the first personal bibliography of a translator and translator in Ukraine. Scientific editor and co-author of the foreword to the biobibliographic index “Mykola Lukash” (Lviv: LNU, 1999).

Scientific activities

Professor  Zorivchak was a member of a number of scholarly bodies, oftentimes holding official positions and honorary titles. Since 1989, she has been presiding over the World  Literature Committee within the Shevchenko Scholarly Society in Lviv.  Professor Zorivchak  has always been a member of the  Society`s  Presidential Board since 1992. She has been a member of the Ukrainian Higher Education Academy since 1993 as well as a member  (2004–2010) and a councillor (since 2010) to its Presidium. Professor Zorivchak joined the National Writers’ Union of Ukraine in 1997.

Roksolana Zorivchak greatly contributed to promoting Ukrainian Translation Studies in the international scholarly community. She  participated in numerous international  forums, most notably the 4th World Congress for Soviet and East European Studies (Harrogate, UK, 1990), the 9th and 11th World Congresses of Slavonic Scholars (Kyiv, 1983; Bratislava, 1993), six Congresses of the International Association of Ukrainian Studies Scholars (Kyiv, 1990; Lviv, 1993; Kharkiv, 1996; Odessa, 1999, Chernivtsi, 2002, Donetsk, 2005), the international conferences “Theory of translation and fundamentals of translator/interpreter training” (Moscow, 1975, 1988), the international conference of the British Association of Comparative Literature Studies Scholars (Warwick, UK, 1993), the 13th FIT World Congress (Brighton, UK, 1993), the conferences “Word. Text. Time”  (Szczecin, 1999, 2001, 2002), the All-European conference for translators and Translation Studies scholars (Belgrade, 2001), the International conference “Hryhoriy Kochur and Ukrainian translation” (Kyiv – Irpin, 2003), the All-Ukrainian conferences “The Ukrainian translation from Mykola Zerov to the present time” (Kyiv, 2004), “Hryhoriy Kochur in the context of  Ukrainian culture of the second half of the 20th century” (Lviv, 2005), the International Congress “Ivan Franko: on the 150th birth anniversary” (Lviv, 2006), the International scholarly symposium “Visualizing the child in children’s fiction” (Lviv, 2007), the International conference “Hryhoriy Kochur in the context of  Ukrainian culture of the 21st  century” (Lviv, 2008), the International Congress “Taras Shevchenko: Apostle of Truth and Light” (Lviv, 2014), the All-Ukrainian conference “National Memory in Philology: Contribution of Professor Yuriy O. Zhluktenko” (Lviv, 2015), the International Congress “Ivan Franko: I am the Prologue…” (Lviv, 2016) and others.

In Memoriam

In 1994, the first bio-bibliography guide of Professor  Zorivchak was published to be followed by two other extended editions (2004 and 2011). In 2008, the Festschrift “Paving the path that runs from Word to Word…” in honour of Professor Zorivchak was published. The information on Professor Zorivchak is available in such significant sources as “Українська літературна енциклопедія” [Ukrainian Literary Encyclopaedia] (Kyiv, 1990, v. 2), “Хто є хто в Україні” [Who is who in Ukraine] (Кyiv, 1997, 2000, 2004, 2006), “Універсальний словник-енциклопедія” [Universal Encyclopaedic Dictionary] (1999, 2001, 2004, 2006), “2000 Outstanding people of the 20th century” (Cambridge, 1998), “Marquis Who’s Who in the World” (1998, 16th ed.; 1999, 17th ed., 2002, 18th ed.), “The International Directory of Distinguished Leadership” (1999, 8th ed.), “Українська мова : енциклопедія” [The Ukrainian language: Encyclopaedia (Kyiv, 2000, 2004, 2007), «Енциклопедія сучасної України» [Encyclopaedia of Contemporary Ukraine] (Kyiv, vol. 10, 2010), «Шевченківська енциклопедія» [Shevchenko Encyclopaedia] (Kyiv, vol. 2, 2012).