German-Ukrainian dialogue: the influence of the international festivals on the development of the German-Ukrainian literary contacts (1990s - early 21st century)

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Private Higher Education Institution “Academy of Recreational Technologies and Law”

Анотація

Німецько-український діалог: вплив міжнародних фестивалів на розвиток літературних контактів (1990-ті рр. - початок ххі ст.)

Ольга Мельничук, кандидат історичних наук, доцент кафедри документознавства та інформаційної діяльності Приватного вищого навчального закладу «Академія рекреаційних технологій і права» (Луцьк, Україна)

Introduction

Defining the problem and argumentation of the topicality of its consideration. The interrelations of the Ukrainian and German people have long traditions in literature and they continue and last nowadays. The fate of many German writers was connected with Ukraine and the Ukrainian writers' fate was connected with Germany. Nowadays Ukraine should improve the relations with Germany because it is still the leader in publishing. Germany conducts large-scale literature events, for example, annual book fairs in Frankfurt and Leipzig. Germany makes German culture, language and literature in Ukraine popular. The emergence of independent Ukraine on the political map promoted the spread of the best heritage of Ukrainian culture in the European literature. In our opinion the research of the German-Ukrainian relations in this field will help us study the content and problems of their development and define the ways of the improvement of their collaboration. At the same time the Ukrainian-German literary contacts have not still been the subject of thorough study. That's why it is topical.

Research analysis. The German-Ukrainian literary contacts were studied as the components of the cultural relations of the countries in the works of O. Opanasenko (Опанасенко, 2008), N. Sovinska (Совінська, 2002), M. Yatsyshyn (Яцишин, 1999). The works of A.-H. Horbach (Горбач, 1996) are devoted to studying a range of literature problems. P. Rykhlo (Рихло, 1997) studied the contribution of some famous artists to the world literature treasury. M. Tkachivska (Ткачівська, 2013) investigated the peculiarities of the Ukrainian-German translation of the citations of Yu. Andrukhovych. M. Ivanytska (Іваницька, 2015) was the first to study the history of the Ukrainian-German literary translation fully (mid-19th century to the middle of the second decade of the 21st century). The author devoted her monograph to the famous person A.-H. Horbach and showed the meaning of the personality of a translator in popularizing, publishing and translating activities.

The sources of the research are the archives and published documents: the official information materials of the state bodies of Ukraine, diplomatic representations, interviews of public men, the materials of the serial publications and data on the websites of mass media, organizations and festivals of both countries. The literary relations were not featured fully in the modern domestic and foreign works despite a great amount of the scientific literature revealing different aspects of the German-Ukrainian relations. That's why the main aim of the scientific research is revealing the content and peculiarities of the Ukrainian-German literary collaboration during the 1990s and early 21st century and influence of the international book events on its development.

Presenting main material

The international cultural forums, fairs and festivals are an important way of popularization of literature. The national stands at the international book fairs became one of the ways of informing the world about our country.

The Ukrainian publishers began to take part in the international book fairs just in the mid-1990s. The literature forums in Germany attracted the attention of Ukrainians. We should mention that nowadays German is the second most popular foreign language in Ukraine and a lot of Ukrainian writers speak German. In addition Germany is an important market for the Ukrainian authors who have their own readers in this country (Saalfelf, 2015).

One of the main fairs in the world is Frankfurt Book Fair (Frankfurter Buchmesse). The fair confirmed its status by a great amount of the annual public events. Even the organizers can't count their amount. As opposed to the Ukrainian book forums, Frankfurt events are held both at the special grounds in the halls and at the national stands. ukraine literature writer german fair

Ukraine hasn't been represented at Frankfurt Book Fair for a long time. Since the late 1990s some publishers from Ukraine have organized little expositions on their own initiative (ГДА МЗСУ, 1997: 91). The first attempts to present Ukraine there were not very successful. It was caused by the economic and humanitarian situation in the country and by the problems in the Ukrainian book market (publishing of the books in the conditions of the total deficit of paper, poor post-Soviet printing quality and so on). The organizers stated that the first experience of the presentation of the Ukrainian stand was turned to “book trade and getting catalogues and souvenirs” (Коваль, 2013).

The organizers of Frankfurt Book Fair supported the projects connected with the promotion of German literature in Ukraine. In particular, in autumn 1998 a great collection of “2000 German Books” was presented with the support of Frankfurt Book Fair in Ukraine (in Kyiv, Lviv and Kharkiv). The representatives of the forum attended important literary events in Ukraine more than once, organized joint events and presented the results of the joint work at the Ukrainian book exhibitions (Пташник, 1998: 33).

The Ukrainian national exposition (more than 500 editions) was presented in Frankfurt in 2004 for the first time. Individual Ukrainian publishing houses Kalvariia (Calvaria), Folio (Folio), Mystetstvo (Art), Ranok (Morning) organized their own expositions. The Day of Ukrainian book was held within the exhibition more than once (Рьослєр-Грайхен, 2002: 36-37; Українські письменники, 2018).

The appearance of Ukrainian books in the collection “The best book design from all over the world” from the German fund “The Art of the Book” in 2016 became an important heritage. This fund collaborates with the specialized design contests and art institutions from different countries, in particular Art Arsenal and Goethe-Institute in Ukraine. Mentioned organizations conducted a contest within the festival Knyzhkovyi Arsenal (BookArsenal, Ukraine) together for the first time. Since that time Ukrainian books have been presented at individual shelves at Frankfurt Book Fair yearly, published in the international catalogue of the mentioned fund, got more opportunities to sell the right to publish books by foreign partners (Сучасна українська, 2017: 13).

In 2018 Ukraine managed to show its literary face creatively at Frankfurt Book Fair under the slogan VidChuty Ukrainu (Senses of Ukraine). 16 publishing houses were represented at the Ukrainian stand. Some of them presented just books on the individual shelf, other publishers and authors presented their works personally. In 2018 on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights the theme of Frankfurt Book Fair was human rights. That's why the representatives of Ukraine (A. Kurkov, V. Amelina, S. Plokhii and others) devoted literary readings to the Ukrainian director O. Sentsov imprisoned in RF (with the participation of the leader of Crimean Tartar people M. Dzhemi- liev, the book about him was presented at the forum) (Українські письменники, 2018). The presentation of the joint project Knyha-podorozh pro Ukrainu (Travel book about Ukraine) and bilingual Ukrainian-German magazine Zhovto-Blakytnyi (Yellow-Blue) that appeared on the initiative of Ukrainians K. Anu- friieva and I. Ushenina (Weise, 2018).

Ukraine didn't represent its heritage at Leipzig Book Fair (Leipziger Buchmesse). The first joint attempt of German and Ukrainian artists and scientists within this forum in 2003 was the exhibition of 300 works of Ukrainian ex-libris of the early 20th - early 21st centuries (ГДА МЗСУ, 2004: 67).

The Ukrainian stand was presented in Leipzig just in 2006 for the first time. The initiator of the exposition was Germany: the organizers provided Ukraine with the showroom free of charge and invited Ukrainian authors. In fact only books were presented at the stand. Ukrainian authors didn't take part in the fair. The problem was their inability to pay for their ticket to Germany (Ганжа, 2006: 6). Ukrainian stands “lost” in comparison with other countries for that same reason and because of the absence of state support. But every year Ukrainian stand improves, the newest multimedia elements and video forums are used (Мігачова, 2013).

The organizers of Leipzig Book Fair try to develop their fair and attract the attention of new literatures. That's why in 2012-2014 the program Transit: Poland, Ukraine, Belorus was introduced, the task of which was the discovery of new names in the eastern European literature in Germany. The participation of Ukraine in this program was successful. The result of this participation was the general amount of the representatives in it and books translated into German (Коваль, 2013). The results of the study of the translation market show that German language takes the third place among other languages into which Ukrainian literature is translated. In 2013 80 titles of Ukrainian books by 16 authors were translated in Germany (Панченко, 2013: 51).

Due to the participation in the European literature exhibitions the cultural interrelation between Ukraine and Germany had positive results. The main result of these specialized events was increase of the presence of Ukrainians at the German-language literary market. The interest in Ukraine among the participants of Frankfurt and Leipzig fairs has grown for the last years in connection with the inner political events and Russian-Ukrainian conflict (ГДА МЗСУ, 2004: 68). In spite of the critical moments in the history of our country and considerable humanitarian problems the familiarity of foreign audience with Ukrainian literature increases. At the same time the amount of German participants in the book events in Ukraine increased (Українські письменники, 2018). It shows the mutual increase of interest in literature heritage of Ukraine and Germany.

Since the early 2000s the European Science Fiction Society Eurocon has been interested in Ukrainian literature. For the first time it was Ukraine among all the countries in CIS that has got a right to host the festival in 2006. The aim was “to host Europe”. In contrast to that, in 2013 the slogan of Eurocon in Kyiv was “to show Ukraine to Europe” (Москвичова, 2013). In 2018 within the festival at the annual competition Ukrainians were awarded in two categories: “the best science fiction publisher” (Zhupansky Publisher) and “the best young author” (Ya. Katorozh) (Українські наукові фантасти, 2018). The Berlin International Literature Festival and Donaufest in Germany were also interested in the works of Ukrainian authors (Вовк, 2010).

The participation in the European exhibitions makes Ukrainian books in the international society more popular, improves the international collaboration in publishing. Since the early 2000s the interest of the world society and German organizations in the works of Ukrainian writers has been increasing.

Since Ukraine became an independent country, conducting international literary festivals has become a tradition. It should be noticed that the organizers and guests of the festivals are the same writers. Ukrainian forums don't have such financial and marketing opportunities as German do, but they receive German writers hospitably. Home festival movement is growing at the current stage. Just some forums managed to get a high international status and obtain the recognition supported by German partners.

One of the centers of the festival movement became the city of Lviv and a world-known Book Forum Lviv (1994). Since 2006 within the festival the Lviv international literature festival has been founded. It is one of the largest festivals in Central and Eastern Europe. In 2006-2007 more than 1200 representatives of literature from Ukraine and 48 countries of the world were the participants of the festival. The festival proper summarizes the literature year in Ukraine and constructs a dialogue between the representatives of Ukrainian and foreign literature (Lviv, 2018).

Lviv was approved as UNESCO's City of Literature by the program Creative Cities (2004). It was an outstanding event in Ukrainian and world literature. In the late 2015th 47 cities joined this network. The Ukrainian city is among them. Lviv is included in the literature tourist routes in the network. Visiting the city the foreigners can get acquainted with more than a hundred writers whose life and creative work are connected with Lviv (Сучасна українська, 2017: 3).

The festival Meridian Czernowitz in Cher- nivtsi (2010) is prominent and can be compared with other European festivals. The forum collaborates with the German-speaking world and is characterized by the active publishing activity. One of the emphases of the festival is German-language literature. Within the festival 5-7 fiction texts by modern authors in Ukrainian or Russian and bilingual German-Ukrainian editions are published annually. So in 2018 Meridian Czernowitz together with Freie Ukraine Braunschweig e.V. realized the project Paul Tselan 100. Merydian Velykoho maistra nimetskoii movy: Chernivtsi-Paryzh-Vichnist 2018 (Paul Tselan 100. Meridian of a Great Artist of the German Language: Chernivtsi-Paris-Eternity 2018). The discussions and readings devoted to the life and creative work of the poet P Tselan were conducted in Ukraine and Germany. The aim of the event was to show that this poet is relevant in Ukraine and Europe. His fate intersected with the tragedies in Europe in the last century and at present time (war, search of self-identification, language problem, etc.). The organizers are going to finish thematic events in 2020 on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the poet's birthday. The reason is that the festival is devoted not only to the presentation of classical and modern poetry but to the poet P. Tselan who managed to combine “cultural meridians” in his works (Meridian, 2018).

Since 2011 the international book festival Knyzh- kovyi Arsenal has been conducted in Ukraine. More than 150 Ukrainian publishers present their editions here yearly. The consistent partners of Knyzhk- ovyi Arsenal have been Goethe-Institut in Ukraine, the German Embassy in Ukraine, Frankfurt Book Fair, Buchkunst Foundation, “Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung” (Germany), etc. About 500 famous Ukrainian and foreign international authors from more than 50 countries have attended the festival since its existence.

The fifth Knyzhkovyi Arsenal (2015) presented a rich German program. Thanks to the support of Goethe-Institut in Ukraine and the German Embassy in Ukraine the famous historian and writer K. Schloegel, writers U. A. Zandih and E. Kinski attended the festival. Workshops, literature readings, a theatrical presentation of the collection by A. Schmidt were conducted at the festival. Yu. And- rukhovych presented two German books about Ukraine (Швыдкова, 2015: 8-9).

Since 2016 Knyzhkovyi Arsenal jointly with Goethe-Institut in Ukraine, Frankfurt Book Fair and Buchkunst Foundation have conducted a contest for the best book design among Ukrainian culture institutions. The approved editions are presented within the collection “The best book design” at Frankfurt and Leipzig Book Fairs annually (Сучасна українська, 2017: 13).

Since the early 2010s due to the support of German partners a range of international literary forums was founded in other Ukrainian cities and towns: International Literature Festival in Odessa (2015; its organizers were Berlin culture manager U. Shreiber and Swiss culture figure H. Ruprecht thanks to the support of MFA Germany) (The program, 2018); in Lutsk (“Meridian Lutsk”, 2017; “Frontera”, 2018); in Dnipro (“Book Space”, 2018) etc. The experts state that the system of the promotion of foreign writers is well developed in Ukraine as publishers focus both on foreign classics in translation and on the works of modern writers. Foreign authors take part in the international book forums and fairs conducted on the territory of our country. The reverse effect would be logical as there are talented authors and works in Ukrainian culture. Nevertheless experts in literature and readers abroad are acquainted with the works of few writers (Сучасна українська, 2017: 1). Despite several home international forums, nowadays Ukraine lacks cultural, information and translation programs that could open Ukraine to the world.

The Ukrainians' interest in Germany have always been high. German proper present their own culture heritage on any occasion in Ukraine, organize exhibitions, recitals and so on. The interest of Germany in Ukraine grew noticeably in the early 21st century in connection with the revolutionary and military operations in the East of the country. This resulted in the increase of sale of Ukrainian literature in Germany and interest of German publishers in Ukrainian authors. During the 1990s - early 2010s the publishing of German writers in the Ukrainian language has increased (Веснянка, 2012).

Certain figures play a significant role in the popularization of Ukrainian and German literature masterpieces including international festivals. At the current stage German-Ukrainian translations have been done by a few experts (Ye. Popovych, O. Lohvy- nenko, P Tarashchuk, T Havryliv, Yu. Prokhasko, N. Sniadanko, O. Sydor, I. Andrushchenko, V. Kami- anets, I. Mehela, N. Ivanychuk, L. Tsybenko, N. Vak- hovska, P Rykhlo) (Веснянка, 2012; Іваницька, 2012: 460). The translators got in contact with book information centers and literary workshops gradually.

A.-H. Horbach (1924-2011) made a great contribution into the popularization of Ukrainian works in Germany. In 1995 she founded a publishing house of Ukrainian literature Brodyna in Reichelsheim (Germany). It had a special Ukrainian-language program in the German-language space, published A.-H. Horbach's translations and literary researches. The works of the authors of the 1960s - 1980s and modern writers were published in the bilingual series “German-Ukrainian Editions”. A.-H. Horbach played an important role of a mediator in Ukrainian and German literature as a publisher and writer. The creative works of one of the most famous scholars of Ukrainian studies in Germany include about 50 translated editions and publications about Ukrainian-German relations (Видавництво, 1996: 40; Совінська, 2002: 130).

Not only expatriate Ukrainians but foreigners popularize Ukrainian literature in the world. So the founder of the organization Kulturallmende (Munich) Verena Nolte is an active popularizer of Ukrainian literature in Germany. Nowadays she is working at the creation of the network of literary “bridges” between Germany and Ukraine particularly meetings of Ukrainian and German writers, art events. V. Nolte is sure that “...Ukraine will be stronger and holds out against the threats of the East due to culture».

The German writer K. Schloegel helps Ukrainians return to the European mental map actively. His edition Ukrainskyi vyklyk. Vidkryttia yevropeiskoi krainy (Ukrainian challenge. Opening of European country) is featured among other works. The author tries to show Europeans different aspects of life of Ukrainian cities: their history, landscape, toponymy, names of famous people. The author considers Ukraine as European region which needs the world's sympathy to hold out imperialist revanchism, military and information aggression now (Сучасна українська, 2017: 12).

Translators-enthusiasts translate Ukrainian literature in foreign languages and promote it in publishing houses. Mentioned above people showed that the achievements and efforts of even one translator can make Ukraine closer and more understandable for foreign readers. A lot of culture managers, authors, publishers, designers and painters contributed to the popularization of books (Сучасна українська, 2017: 15). Due to their efforts Ukrainian writers manage to get foreign literature awards and win the international recognition.

It should be pointed out that there is neither state nor private scholarship for translators of Ukrainian literature in Ukraine. That's why some people from both countries carried out the translation even when there was the absence of specialized programs.

Slavinska considered that foreign translators are the greatest “engines” of the promotion of our literature (Мігачова, 2013). They proper are the only mediators between Ukrainian literature and German publishers who focus on the references of expert groups making publishing program.

The activity of certain figures (especially German translators working from Ukrainian) has been unno- ticeable for a long time. That's why in 2010 in Berlin German and Ukrainian figures founded the first international public organization of literary translations Translit. The project Perekladatska maisternia (Translation workshop) preceded that organization (Веснянка, 2012). The organization Translit translated and published, conducted readings and other public events, collaborated with publishers, foundations, etc. Due to the activity of the translators S. Onufriv, K. Brunner, K. Date and others the financing of the program of translations of Ukrainian children's literature by R. Bosch Foundation (2013) was received. Thanks to the collaboration of Translit with Ukrainian publishers children's literature becomes available to German-language publishers. The association translated the works of many Ukrainian authors (S. Zhadan, O. Zabuzhko, T Maliarchuk, N. Sniadanko, etc.) (Коваль, 2013).

A joint literature project of Ukrainian and German artists Mist z paperu (Paper bridge) has been realized since 2015. The aim is not only to observe the processes in Ukraine during the Russian aggressive actions but to join separated Ukraine by means of literature and art. That's why the center of the project is Ukraine during Euromaidan and military conflict in the East of the country. The participation forms are different - lectures, discussions, streaming, film demonstration and other means that can show Ukraine as a diversified country. German-Ukrainian literature meetings take place in different cities (Lviv, Dni- pro, Kharkiv, Mariupol) every year creating cultural “bridges” between them. Writers, musicians, painters, translators, historians, literature and culture figures, publishers, galleries take part in them supported by the partners from both countries (Goethe-Institut in Ukraine, the German Embassy in Donetsk, “Kul- tura medialna” (Dnipro), German MFA, Bavarian State Ministry of Education, Science and the Art, etc.) (Viertes, 2018).

The centers of promotion of modern German literature in Ukraine are specially organized German culture institutions supporting the translating programs. Kyiv Goethe-Institut played an important role in this activity. The institution spread actively information about German literature in Ukraine (Гете, 1999: 36). During the mid- 2000s - mid- 2010s Goethe-Institut jointly with Vidrodzhennia (Revival) Foundation supported the translation of more than a hundred German works into the Ukrainian language (Іваницька, 2012: 463). A lot of German culture and literature communities (“Neue Gesellschaft fur Literatur” (Berlin), “Neue literaturische Gesellschaft” (Marburg) and so on are interested in German-Ukrainian relations (Горбач, 1996: 159).

Publishing houses play an important role in the popularization of translated literature. The activity of the above mentioned Brodyna as well as Suhrkamp, Fliatsius and others to publish German-Ukrainian literature was creative (ГДА МЗСУ, 2000: 110). However, just a few publishers are interested in Ukraine as there is an immaterial amount of translators of literature working from Ukrainian into German (Крамар, 2012). In Ukraine proper there are several publishing houses that promote their products abroad (for example, Kalvaria (Calvary), Nora-Druk (Nora Publisher), Teza (Thesis), Hlovberi-buks (Glowberry Books), Maister-klas (Masterstroke), etc.). So “A-ba-ba-ha-la-ma-ha”, Vydavnytstvo Staroho Leva (Old Lion Publishing House), Hrani-T (T-Sides) and Bohdan are honored with prestige international awards and they are known among foreign publishers (Коваль, 2013). Recently the attempts of Ukrainian publishers to enter the foreign market have been unsuccessful. Nowadays the popularity of Ukrainian authors abroad is growing, they are welcome visitors of German literary festivals and publishers sell actively the rights to publish their books to foreign colleagues (Сучасна українська, 2017: 4).

There are a lot of examples of the translated Ukrainian authors into foreign languages. Ukraine didn't invest capital in them. But there are no reliable statistics on the amount of Ukrainian books published in Germany. German readers are interested in classic and modern literature. Since 1990s in both countries certain original and translated works and collections of works of diaspore and banned authors have been published (Яцишин, 1999: 106).

The popularity of Ukrainian authors in Germany is assessed not only with a high circulation of sold books but with repeated awards at the international competitions. So, the creative works by the writer N. Vodin honored the awards in Germany (the Adel- bert von Chamisso Prize for the contribution to the development of German literature, 1998 (Наташа Водін, 1998: 31); the novel Vona rodom zMariupolia (She Was Born in Mariupol) won the Leipzig Book Fair Prize in fiction, 2017) (Natascha Wodin, 2017).

In 2013 the writer M. Haponenko of Ukrainian origin won the Adelbert von Chamisso Prize for the novel Hto taka Marta? (Who Is Marta?) (Остапчук, 2013). K. Petrovska won the Ingeborg Bachmann Prize for the novel Mozhlyvo Ester (Vielleicht Esther, Maybe Esther) during the Festival of German-Language Literature (2013) (Грабська, 2013) and literary award of the German TV channel “ZDF” for “confrontation to ignorance and oblivion” (Письменниці, 2014: 10). In 2018 the writer T. Maliarchuk won the above mentioned Ingeborg Bachmann Prize for her work Zhaba v mori (A frog in the sea) (Tanja Maljartschuk, 2018).

One of the most popular modern Ukrainian authors in Germany is S. Zhadan. The main subject of his works is post-Soviet reality in Ukraine. His collection of poems Istoriia kultury pochatku stolittia (The History of Culture of the Beginning of the Century), the novel Depesh mod (Depeche Mode), Anarkhiia v Ukraini (Anarchy in Ukraine), Vidsotok samohubstv (Range of suicides), Himn demokratychnoi molodi (Hymn of Democratic Youth), Big Mac (Big Mac) were translated into German.

The author and translators of his works S. Shter and Yu. Durkot were honored with the Prestige German awards several times. In particular, in 2014 the work Voroshylovhrad (German-language edition “Die Erfindung des Jazz im Donbass”) received the Brucke Berlin Literary Award (Завгородня, 2014). In 2017 the novel Internat (“Boardingschool”) received the first prize at Leipzig Book Fair as the best translation and there were a lot of reviews in the foreign printed media (notably in the largest daily German (Suddeutsche Zeitung), Austrian (Wiener Zeitung), Swiss (Neue Zurcher Zeitung) papers and on the website of the German broadcasting company “NDR”) (Stephan, 2018; Esther, 2018).

The famous Ukrainian translator, literary critic, popularizer of German-language literature, essayist and lecturer P. Rykhlo was decorated with German Order of Merit (2012). In 2015 he won Georg Dehio Cultural Prize (Georg, 2015). K. Raabe made a great contribution to fostering the purity of the German language who won the prize of Henning-Kau- fmann-Foundation. The author translated a lot of unknown literary texts that became available for German audience (Deutscher, 2015).

Ukraine was also one of the winners of awards and book ratings at Frankfurt Book Fair. So, for the first time creative workshop “Ahrafka” was honored with “Global Illustration Award” (2016) (the best illustrations and covers) for the cover of the book Dzhordzh and taiemnyi kliuch do Vsesvitu (George's Secret Key to the Universe) by Lucy and Stephen Hawking. Six Ukrainian editions received the prize from Stiftung Buchkunst (Best Book Design from all over the World). The works Khto roste u parku (Who Grows in the Park) by K. Mikhalitsyna and Viter z-pid sontsia (The Wind from the Sun) by O. Lushchevska were honored in the catalogue The White Ravens (the best international children's and youth literature). It should be pointed out that the language experts select the best releases out of nine thousand books for the international catalogue which then come up in the International Youth Library in Munich (Knyhy, 2016).

Yu. Andrukhovych was awarded numerous prizes. Some of his awards are the Herder Prize (Hamburg, 2000), the Erich Maria Remarque Peace Prize (Osna- bruck, 2005), the Leipzig Book Fair Prize for European Understanding (2006), the literary Angelus Award of Central Europe (Wroclaw, Poland, 2006), the Hannah Arendt Prize for “the confrontation to the totalitarianism” (2014). In 2016 he was awarded with the Goethe Medal “for the merits in popularization of the German language and international cultural exchange” (Юрія Андруховича, 2016).

Nowadays the following awards are popular in Ukraine: “BBC Book of the Year”, “Book of the Year”, “Coronation of the Word”, “The Shevchenko Prize”. At present there are no international literature prizes in Ukraine in comparison with Germany. One of the reasons is lack of events connected with the popularization of literary process and readings among the population of the country in general (Славінська, 2011).

Literary prizes proper are one of the possible orientation points among thousands of releases for a modern reader. There is no doubt that they aren't the only criterion of the quality of a book but receiving international awards shows the main trends in modern literary process. As well foreign readers get acquainted with a lot of Ukrainian writers first of all due to the international prizes. That's why winning international prizes has a lot of consequences: increase of the author's popularity, creative and publishing activity, cash prizes and so forth.

Certain events diversify literary relations between the countries. For example, 95 authors from 41 countries took part in the creative project “Literature Express Europe 2000”. The literature tour was conducted under the patronage of the Council of Europe, UNESCO, international union of railways, the head of German Bundestag and partner organizations from 11 countries that the train crossed (ГДА МЗСУ, 2000: 27). Conducting literature tours renewed in the early 2010s initiated by literary corporation Meridian Czernowitz. In 2013 poetry tour took place in the special salon car in the train Kyiv-Chernivtsi-Lviv-Berlin-Bremen holding literary events at each stop. The peculiarity of the tour is its multilinguality, poets read their works both in their native language and in Ukrainian (На Meridian Chernowitz, 2013). In 2014-2015 artists, journalists and audience took part in the poetic tours Meridian Czernowitz crossing Ukraine, Germany and other countries every year (Loser, 2015: 25).

An outstanding phenomenon is organization of literary evenings and meetings of writers within different culture and art events. The newest form of the relations became Days of Ukrainian literature which were conducted in Berlin on 27-28 May, 2002 for the first time. Ukrainian writers Yu. Andrukhovych, A. Bondar, L. Deresh and S. Zhadan took part in them (ГДА МЗСУ, 2004: 63).

On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of establishing diplomatic contacts Ministers for Foreign Affairs of both countries initiated to hold Ukrainian-German Year of Languages in 2017-2018. During this period people got acquainted with modern Ukrainian and German culture studying language and literature. The programs of Ukrainian-German Year of Languages divided into three themes: one of them was a dialogue about the place of Ukraine in the European literature space. Accordingly numerous literature readings and the meetings with the writers were organized. A joint stand at Knyzh- kovyi Arsenal in Kyiv (2018) was presented. More than 15 thousand people attended it. In general, Ukrainian-German Year of Languages comprised about 100 culture and literature events in Ukraine and Germany (Deutsch, 2018).

Nowadays the popularization of literature product is realized by means of creating hybrid forms of its presentation. Combination of literature with the other kinds of art has become a positive phenomenon because more audience is involved in it. The International festival SOUNDOUT! (Berlin) is such an example. Its aim was the demonstration of new ways of the interaction of literature and art and media. According to SOUNDOUT! in 2014 Ukrainian multimedia project AmnesiA project: open platform was included in seven best literary events in the world. The project presents a great amount of interpretations of fiction in different dimensions: literature, music and visual art on the website («АмнезіЯ project», 2014). Nowadays literature readings at festivals and fairs are harmoniously amplified with audio performances, art exhibitions based on certain literature works, musical accompaniment, video demonstrations, electro and break poetry (reciting poems to which people dance) and other creative forms of presentation and audience is encouraged by them.

Network Internet, Internet pages of the organizers, authors and translators became a popular way of spreading information about literary events. The writers' blogs, literature websites and e-books are rather popular nowadays. The sales of books greatly depend on the popularity of the author among German readers. That's why Ukrainian authors figure their PR themselves in the Internet, they post extracts from their new texts or reviews of certain works, take part in the discussion with their readers. These platforms are not still an influential phenomenon in literature. But the experts consider that in future publishers will look for new authors on the websites. The above-mentioned factors will influence on further development and popularization of literature, especially Ukrainian one in future (Славінська, 2011).

Certain facts state that Ukrainian writers can't afford just to be engaged in literary activities. Nevertheless, every author and translator, above all, looks for financing to publish a book. The reason is that literature work in general and work connected with the ordering the finished text is unpaid (Вертіль, 2017).

The subject matter of the modern Ukrainian writers being raised and discussed by our countrymen at international book forums is connected with the events in Ukraine. The majority of Ukrainian writers are opposed to the Russian policy and it is represented in their creative work. For example, popular in Ukraine and abroad Yu. Andrukhovych and S. Zhadan partly touch political problems, Russian-Ukrainian conflict, refugees, violation of human rights on the occupied territories, Euromaidan ideas, etc. in their works. Russian aggression in the East of the country has become one of the factors that made a lot of authors change their outlooks on the history and modernity of Ukraine and, as the experts point out, dissociate from post-Soviet legacy (Weise, 2018). Nowadays the writers describe the war in the East of Ukraine in their works. It has become a protest against aggressor and even “arm” in the information war to some extent (Saalfelf, 2015). During the discussions at international forums the questions of freedom of speech and propaganda, passivity and “silence” in society of writers concerning certain events, toxicity of propaganda literature and the necessity of popularization of reading among population and so on are raised.

Nowadays literature art platforms are the ways of unity of Ukraine separated by the war. The activity of certain artists has become an example of the way how to build bridges between the countries, overcome the boundaries and change stereotypes (Kellermann, 2015). Thanks to literature in general and translated into German books in particular world community can know about turning points in the history of Ukraine. The active promotion of modern works by Ukrainian publishers, translators and authors proper caused the increase of interest not only in Ukrainian literature but Ukrainian culture in general. The mutual understanding by means of literature exchange will help find the optimal decision on the way to the integration of Ukraine to Europe in the political and economic spheres.

We should pay attention to a range of problems in literature which prevent German-Ukrainian collaboration. Their decision can have a positive impact on the development of modern Ukrainian literature and Ukrainian publishing in particular. Considerable obstacles in this sphere appear because of a difficult situation on the Ukrainian book market which is still separated: in the mid-2010s only 20 Ukrainian publishers out of 350 are published in the Ukrainian language (Wullenkemper, 2015). Absolute indifference of the authorities to the problems of book publishing in Ukraine and absence of the programs of popularization of modern Ukrainian literature are among the main trends (Славінська, 2011). Ukrainian participants of the international events are not always supported by their country. At Frankfurt, Leipzig and other fairs national stand is often ''lost” among large presentable expositions of other countries. Not only the promotion of the names of Ukrainian artists is still topical for publishers but also educative work abroad the aim of which is to spread information about our country.

The problem of translation of Ukrainian works is still critical. Ukraine doesn't have a state program of translating foreign publishers in Ukrainian. Just the famous names of classic and modern literature attract the translators' attention (only under the support of sponsors). The search of qualified translators working from Ukrainian into German is problematic. Unfortunately, in Germany there are a few centers where Ukrainian language is studied. That's why the translation of not only fiction but specialized scientific and children's literature is problematic. There is a tendency in the book market when the foreigners worry about Ukrainian literature more than Ukrainians themselves. We just hope that foreign translators won't stop popularizing Ukrainian literature in their country.

To popularize Ukrainian book it's necessary to introduce programs for reading, to have proper financing and to create the net of book retail trade (Мігачова, 2013). The activity of such an institution in Ukraine as Joint Committee in problems of patronage of home publishing and book distribution (founded in 2006) is limited with the working out special programs in Ukraine. As foreign experts pointed out, the foundation of the Ukrainian Book Institute was positive for publishing (2016). This institution is responsible for making programs of support for translations of modern Ukrainian literature, coordination of the work with publishers and partners preparing national presentations abroad (Сучасна українська, 2017: 3). Nowadays Ukrainian Government has some ideas about the popularization of Ukrainian books and limitations of import these products from Russia (Wullenkemper, 2015). However, the state programs are realized slowly and they are insufficiently effective.

Till now the books in Ukrainian have been published sporadically and the production has been of bad quality. Now this situation is changing because Ukrainian language begins to gain music, literature and cinematographic space in Ukraine. In the information war and Russian aggression Ukrainian language is a key weapon to protect Ukrainian people and it is the main component of its self-identification. Now Ukrainian publishing is entering the international market and every year this process is becoming more organized.

To solve the above mentioned problems we should take into account the experience of other countries (for example, Germany), join the efforts of volunteers and the state. It's necessary to increase the participation of Ukrainian publishers in the international events. Translation of not only famous works but of little-known authors should be livened to popularize Ukrainian literature. Mass media and Internet should be used to spread information about exhibition events as much as possible.

Conclusions

Thus, German-Ukrainian relations in the field of literature developed dynamically during the 90s in the 20th century - in the early 21st century. The relations with Germany promote the active joining of Ukrainian literature all-European literary process. The interaction of both countries in the literary sphere is realized in different forms: participation in the international and book exhibitions, art events, reading, poetic evenings and so on. Recently new forms of collaboration and more intensive cooperation in this field have appeared. International exhibition forums help spread information about Ukrainian and German literature. At the international literature fairs presentations of joint publishing and translation projects are held, more and more Ukrainian figures and organizations take part in them, the discussions of the problems are conducted not only in literature but in political and culture spheres. German-language literature popularizes a range of institutions and support programs. Certain people present Ukrainian culture achievements. Thanks to the efforts of Ukrainian and German writers there was a mutual increase of interest in creative work of Ukrainian and German writers. Ukrainian authors and translators from both countries obtain the international recognition and their work in popularization and their literature heritage contribute to spreading information about Ukrainian culture in the world.

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