Ukrainian Topics in Slovak Periodicals at Turn of the 20th Century

The article focuses on the representation of Ukrainian topics in Slovak journals, mainly in “Hlas” (‘Voice’). This periodical had a subtitle “Mesačník pre literatúru, politika a sociálne otázky” (Monthly on literature, politics and social issues) and appeared in 1898–1904.  “Hlas” is considered to be the publishing platform of liberally oriented Slovak youth, who opposed the conservative policy of the Center of National Life in Martin, led by S. H. Vajanský. Just as with other key ideological issues (Czechoslovakism, Russophilism, political activity), Vajanský’s reception and understanding of Ukrainian issues significantly differed from those of the younger generation. ‘Ukrainian theme’ usually got into the journal “Hlas” indirectly, through the links to ‘Slovanský přehled’ (‘Slavic Review’) journal. “Hlas” paid considerable attention to social problems. Such issues as migration, the influence of magyarization on the educational system and level of literacy among ‘rusyns’ were often addressed with a help of statistical data. The periodical provided information on the current challenges of Ukrainian students and some translations of works by Ukrainian authors. For instance, in 1903 “Hlas”  published “Nastia” by B. Lepkyi. The translator of the text F. Votruba was among the most active promotors of Ukrainian literature. The references to outstanding Ukrainian cultural figures, such as Taras Shevchenko, Ivan Franko, Volodymyr Hnatiuk, etc., are also worth to mention. A detailed analysis of the content of “Hlas” revealed that the journal gave a low priority to ‘Ukrainian issues’. Most of the relevant information was taken from the other journals. The appearance of original material or translations to a large extent was driven by the personal interests of individual authors.