Meeting of Ukrainian studies scholars in Croatia
The Department of Ukrainian Language and Literature at the University of Zagreb (Croatia) brought together Ukrainian scholars from all over the world for the First International Scientific Ukrainian Studies Conference in memory of Raisa Trostynska.
The event was attended by Iryna Shkitska, Doctor of Philology, Professor of the Department of Information and Socio-Cultural Activities at the Western Ukrainian National University, who delivered a presentation on the opposition between masculine and feminine in Ukrainian and Polish proverbs and sayings.
According to her research, male and female individuals in traditional Polish and Ukrainian societies were opposed in terms of general assessment, physical strength, appearance and attitude, mental abilities, interests/subject of conversation, emotionality and temperament, character traits, preferences, views on family creation, role in it and in the home, work performed, social roles, etc. Ukrainian proverbs show more Lukism, while Polish proverbs are more vividly representative of the demonisation of women. The parables of both languages confirm the leading role of men in the family and the dominant position of women in household management. The opposition of masculine and feminine in the phraseological and paradigmatic material of the compared languages also takes the form of oppositions such as ‘father-mother’, ‘son-daughter’, ‘brother-sister’, ‘widow-widower’.
The speeches of the conference participants were wide-ranging and covered various areas of linguistic knowledge and related sciences - cultural studies, sociology, psycholinguistics, gender linguistics, etc.
During the conference, there was a welcoming and supportive atmosphere, a spirit of collective learning, and a genuine interest in the research results presented by each speaker. Events such as the Ukrainian Studies Conference in Zagreb serve as a valuable source of inspiration, not only for the scientific community, but also for all Ukrainians, and provide an opportunity to promote the Ukrainian language and culture.
