HARVARD UKRAINIAN STUDIES - See also - Harvard University

Alexander A. Potebnja'sPsycholinguistic Theory of LiteratureA Metacritical InquiryJohn FizerThe work of Alexander A. Potebnja, a leading Ukrainianlinguist of the nineteenth century, flourished in the Russian Empireand Soviet Union during the first three decades of this century.Potebnja's theory, known as potebnjanstvo (Potebnjanism), attractedscores of adherents and gave rise to an influential literary journal and aformal critical school at Kharkiv. Despite his remarkableachievements in linguistics and literary theory, Potebnja's work wasofficially renounced in the Soviet Union in the 1930s, and in the Westhe remains virtually unknown.In his study Fizer carefully reconstructs Potebnja's theoryfrom the psycholinguistic formulations found in his works onlanguage, myth, and folklore. He elaborates the central tenents ofPotebnja's theory in regard to their philosophical, psychological, andlinguistic bases, and his insightful analysis restores Potebnja to hisrightful place in the history of literary criticism.Harvard Ukrainian Research InstituteMonograph SeriesISBN 0-916458-16-4 184 pp., cloth $16.00Forthcoming: George Y. Shevelov The Ukrainian Language in theFirst Half of the Twentieth Century (1900-1941): Its State and Status($20.00)To obtain your copy of John Fizer's Potebnja enclose your check (UScurrency) and send to:Harvard Series in Ukrainian Studies1583 Massachusetts AvenueCambridge, Massachusetts 02138(Orders sent with payment are processed free of postage and handling fees)