Testimonies on the Material Situation of the Culturally Active Ukrainian Diaspora in Germany, 1946-1951

Introduction by the editor for CHORS 2

CHORS 2
Introduction by the editor

The first CHORS almanac was published in New Year 1946 / 47, though dated “October,” but really at Christmas: The introducing picture drawn by Halyna Mazeppa [sic] shows the shepherds worshipping before the manger. At that time, but a very small group of Ukrainian writers met under the name of “CHORS” – who is the sun-god of the ancient Slavs. The Apollon in the Hellas of the Steppe: Yuriy Sherech and W. Ber (Professor V. Petrov) took part in editorship. “CHORS”, planned to become a Quarterly of fine literature and arts, has no more appeared since then – on account of the special financial circumstances in the emigrants situation. For five years “CHORS“ has existed invisibly. 

Yuriy Soloviy and his colleagues in art entered and completed the small rows. The Chorsites’ family increased by a Dinkelsbuehl artist group – “the anachcorets” [?]: the poetess Elisabeth Kottmeier and some other german colleagues in paintry, music and artistic dance [here added: thus it] was completed as to the kinds of art, and its extension, which in the beginning included but one notion, was enlarged. Thereby the small Franconian town of Dinkelsbuehl became the temporary center of the CHORS activity. Here, 1950, CHORS got the base to cooperate with the painters Hermann Anselment, Ernst Vogel, Gerhard Knieschon, Barbara Augspach; later on with the dancer Eugen Poranski and the pianist Maria Poranski – but, first of all, with Elisabeth Kottmeier, enthusiastic friend of modern Ukrainian poetry, an anthology of which she has prepared in her translations. 

The two languages edition “CHORS 2” shall be a document of the first Dinkelsbuehl period of CHORS activity: 1950/1951. 

In spite of its origin in the modern tendencies of art, CHORS never has fixed itself at one of them. The reader will find here even works of writers and artists who are not official members of the CHORS Family. CHORS rather selects according to this principle: firstly to choose among all those representatives of art it can sympathize with, then, if a special representative is basing on it. Their principle allows CHORS to appreciate in this representative every peculiarity of style and tendency: this is the principle uniting the different representatives to the only principle of independence in art, which is the sovereignty of art. It is the principle, to create from the artists inner substance, from his unrepeatable world, from his individual vision of spirit and intention, which he projects into the reality surrounding him. This principle – the primate of the creating form – does not depend on how form is to be understood: may form be considered as an action continually realizing itself and becoming a mediator when one substance is as a phenomenon untouched within itself. getting [sic] its valour just by its perfection which is independent from any movement. 

And still one, something which is important: The Ukrainian Chorsites appreciate the German Chorsites as the immediate heirs of the bright tradition of the “Blauer Reiter”, Munich, the forces of whose – German and not German – artists endeavoured in the dawn of our new-European epoch, to climb up via the arc of one nation – the German expressionism – to the steep tops of the universal human art.

E.K.

In this letter, the author, Ihor Kostetskyi, chooses the German transliteration of the journal’s name.

Letter from Kostetskyi on publishing KHORS 2 from September 19, 1951

Munich, 19 September 1951
Ko/Ru.

Subject: Publication of a Ukrainian literary-artistic almanac. 

I take the liberty of submitting to your kind attention my proposal – to publish a literary-artistic almanac in two languages, the result of the work of a group of Ukrainian and German poets, writers, and painters under the name KHORS. This publication would be fundamentally apolitical and its purpose would be to acquaint the German reader with the achievements of contemporary Ukrainian art in emigration, as well as to publish a series of manuscripts devoted to current problems of contemporary German and world art. I am deeply convinced that there is an unquestionable need to open the way to the world for ideas and thoughts which, due to the total lack of means of publication, have not yet found embodiment either in the printed word or in artistic reproduction, and yet they are vivid signs of the intellectual activity of the intelligentsia of the Soviet peoples, who are endeavoring not only to take part in the politics of the day but also to find access to the depths of the culture of the Western peoples. 

The almanac consists of about 10 printed sheets, the plan is as follows: 

Preface in both languages

Foreword by the German poet Elisabeth Kottmeier (on cultural cooperation)

Poems by Ukrainian poet-emigrants (in German translation)

Novella by Elisabeth Kottmeier “The Red Swan”

Its translation into Ukrainian

Novella by the Ukrainian writer Yevhen Harun (in German translation)

Fragment from the play “Catilina” by the Ukrainian writer Jurij Kossatsch (in German translation)

Surrealist miniatures by the Ukrainian writer Zinowij Berezan (in the original and in translation)

Essay by Prof. Alexander Filipov “Skoworoda and Tolstoj” (in German)

Hoffman, essay “Stephan George and Maximin” (in German, with Ukrainian translations from George)

My essay “Typus und Aufnahme” (on some problems of Expressionism)

Note on the dancer Poransky

My essay on Arnold Schönberg

From KHORS’ art chronicle (overview of the most important artistic and literary events of 1946-1951 in Ukrainian emigration and in the world)

Some clichés (10-15): Reproductions of pictures, phote montages [sic!], portraits, etc.

While there are already publications in the emigration that familiarise Western readers with the achievements of Russian culture, it would be highly desirable to offer this opportunity to the art-loving intelligentsia of other Soviet peoples, in this case – the Ukrainian. 

                   In anticipation of a favorable reply, I am 

                                                          with the highest esteem

                                                                      (Eaghor Kostetskyi, editor)

In the original German language 

München, den 19.9.51
Ko/Ru.

Betr.: Herausgabe eines ukrainischen literarisch-künstlerischen Almanachs. 

Ich erlaube mir, Ihrer freundlichen Aufmerksamkeit meine [sic!] Vorschlag zu unterbreiten – einen literarisch-künstlerischen Almanach in zwei Sprachen herauszugeben, der ein Ergebnis der Tätigkeit einer Gruppe von ukrainischen und deutschen Dichtern, Schriftstellern und Malern darstellt, unter dem Namen CHORS. Diese Veröffentlichung wäre grundsätzlich unpolitisch und hätte zum Zweck, den deutschen Lesen mit den Errungenschaften der heutigen ukrainischen Kunst in der Emigration bekanntzumachen, sowie eine Reihe von Manuskripten zu veröffentlichen, die aktuellen Problemen der deutschen und der Weltkunst der Gegenwart gewidmet sind. Nach meiner tiefen Überzeugung besteht die unzweifelbare Notwendigkeit, den Weg zur Welt den Ideen und Gedanken zu bahnen, die infolge gänzlichen Mangels an Veröffentlichungsmitteln bis heute noch keine Verkörperung weder im gedruckten Wort, noch in der künstlerischen Reproduktion gefunden haben, und stellen doch anschaulichen [sic!] Merkmale der geistigen Tätigkeit der Intelligenz der Sowjetvölker dar, die nicht nur bestrebt sind, sich an der Tagespolitik zu beteiligen, sondern auch den Zutritt zu den Tiefen der Kultur der Westvölker zu finden. 

Der Umfang des Almanachs beträgt ca. 10 Druckbogen, der Plan ist folgender: 

Vorwort in beiden Sprachen 

Vorwort der deutschen Dichterin Elisabeth Kottmeier (über die kulturelle Mitarbeit)

Gedichte ukrainischer Dichter-Emigranten (in deutscher Übersetzung)

Novelle von Elisabeth Kottmeier „Der rote Schwan“

Deren Übersetzung ins Ukrainische

Novelle des ukrainischen Schriftstellers Jewhen Harun (in deutscher Übersetzung)

Fragment aus dem Schauspiel des ukrainischen Schriftstellers Jurij Kossatsch „Catilina“ (in deutscher Übersetzung)

Surrealistische Miniaturen des ukrainischen Schriftstellers Zinowij Berzan (im Original und in Übersetzungen)

Aufsatz von Prof.Alexander [sic] Filipow „Skoworoda und Tolstoj (in Deutsch)

Hoffman, Aufsatz „Stephan George und Maximin“ (in Deutsch, mit Ukrainischen Übertragungen aus George) 

Mein Aufsatz „Typus und Aufnahme (über einige Probleme des Expressionismus)

Notiz über den Tänzer Poransky

Mein Aufsatz über Arnold Schönberg

Aus der Kunstchronik CHORS‘ (Überblick der wichtigsten künstlerisch literarischen Ereignisse von 1946-1951 in der ukrainischen Emigration sowie in der Welt)

Dazu einige Klischee (10-15): Reproduktionen von Bildern, Fote montagen [sic!], Portraits u.ä. 

Während in der Emigration bereits Veröffentlichungen vorhanden sind, die den Westleser mit den Errungenschaften der russischen Kultur bekanntmachen, wäre es äußerst wünschenswert, diese Möglichkeit auch der kunstbewanderten Intelligenz anderer sowjetischen Völker, in diesem Falle – der ukrainischen – zu bieten. 

                   In Erwartung einer günstigen Antwort bin ich

                                                        mit vorzüglicher Hochachtung

                                                                 (Eaghor Kostetzky, Redakteur)

***

 Space Kiosk

 ABOUT KHORS

(extracts from printed speeches and private letters)

KHORS is fascinating; though I haven’t had the time to dive in, I already sense it will grip me from the first to the last word. Thank you so much for the author’s copy. I imagine the editions for sale will look a bit different. They won’t be so crumpled, and I’m guessing they’ll have a color cover—otherwise, it wouldn’t be much of a cover at all. Besides, as a longtime printing engineer, I can tell from the design cues. I’m right, aren’t I? – Take a closer look at the captivating literary and artistic collection, KHORS. – In KHORS, he had boundless creative freedom, yet here, the editors won’t let even the slightest mistype slip by. – With the arrival of KHORS, we can finally talk about a European-style Ukrainian literary and artistic journal. – Now, at last, KHORS has been published—a magazine rich in literature and art. The design of the book itself is unique and unconventional, reflecting a keen pursuit of originality. We expected something even bolder for the cover design than a circle of stylized Hutsuls in poses of playful naivety, as this deliberate choice feels somewhat at odds with the rest of KHORS’s ambitious content. It’s hard to believe a reputable magazine like KHORS would embody perspectives so distant from truth or so misaligned. – At last, a humor magazine has appeared: KHORS. Y. Dyvnych celebrates this new “substantial literary and artistic magazine” that has recently been launched under the ancient Slavic god Khors’s name. According to Dyvnych, it seeks to “unlock the Ukrainian national soul,” and Khvylovyi should have followed Gogol when he spoke of the “Asian Renaissance.” Here lie the future aspirations of Ukrainians! KHORS and Asia! The written page is indeed patient, bearing even the nonsense from creators of tomorrow’s “Great Literature” and “Greater Literary Criticism” (authored by L. Hrushenko). – One is immediately tempted to draw comparisons with The Literary Fair, if only for contrast. However, KHORS is not merely an imitation of the Fair’s approach. It feels more genuine here than in publications like the former Warsaw-Lviv WE. Still, a connection—a certain lineage—exists between these magazines. Continuing the traditions of one’s predecessors is important, especially when they are invigorated by the spirit and style of our own time, as KHORS effectively achieves. – A second affliction of our literature is the pursuit of originality at any cost, even when it distorts the form and content of a work. The KHORS people suffer from this fashionable ailment, where its creative direction veers so wildly (as seen in the manifesto “With a Compass”) that neither its inventors nor its artistic followers could maintain any true direction. – Thank you very much for sending KHORS. I’m delighted you brought it to life and, in time, I plan to contribute something for KHORS. – Roughly a year ago, KHORS debuted under the Ukrainian Word publishing house. This is one of our “literary experiments,” and it would not be a loss if it hadn’t emerged. The book spans 193 pages, which could easily have published the finest works of one of our prominent writers. – KHORS certainly made waves and left a mark. I congratulate you on this accomplishment, though I have reservations about the cover design. I had also noted delays with some of the chronicle and information content. Refreshingly, Orlyk has been re-envisioned once more. KHORS is a commendable magazine, though I wouldn’t dare to submit to it again. With that, I wish you success. I fully agree with Mr. Narizhnyi that the primary reason for this situation is MUR’s failure to establish its own publishing house. Additionally, through publications like HORS, the MUR Almanac (Part 1), and others, it compromised Ukrainian writers in the public’s eye by placing “experimenters” at the forefront.