First Doctoral Dissertation in the Rusyn Language Defended
(World Academy of Rusyn Culture, 8 January 2007)
Bratislava, Slovakia The past decade has seen an enormous growth worldwide of scholarly interest in the history and culture of Carpatho-Rusyns. Several talented young scholars of various national backgrounds, who accept the premise that Carpatho-Rusyns form a distinct people, have earned doctoral degrees at leading universities for Ph.D. dissertations in the fields of history, linguistics, literature, musicology, and sociology. Among these are Helena Duc’-Fajfer (Jagiellonian University, Poland, 1997), Lenora Decarlo (Florida State University, USA, 1998), Alexander Teutsch (Heidelberg University, Germany, 2001), Ewa Michna (Jagiellonian University, Poland, 2001), Marc Stegherr (Ludwig-Maximillian University, Munich, Germany, 2002), and Bogdan Horbal (University of Wrocław, Poland, 2005).
The latest to join the ranks of scholars whose dissertations is on a topic of Rusyn studies is Anna Plišková, who in November 2006 was awarded the Ph.D. degree from Slovak Academy of Sciences Institute for Slavic Studies in Bratislava, Slovakia. Dr. Plišková, who since 1999 teaches at Prešov University’s Department of Rusyn Language and Literature, was also holder of the Steven Chepa Fellowship in Rusyn Studies at the University of Toronto. Her dissertation, Списовный язык карпатьскых Русинів: проблемы становліня, кодіфікації, акцептації і сфер функціонуваня, was written under the direction of the distinguished Slavist, Professor Ján Doruľa.
What makes Dr. Plišková’s work unique is the fact that it is the first dissertation written entirely in the Rusyn literary language. The appearance of her dissertation is not only a triumphant personal achievement, it is also a historic moment which reveals that the scholarly world recognizes the existence of Rusyns as a distinct Slavic people, and that the Rusyn language can be used for scholarly and scientific publications. Clearly Dr. Anna Plišková has shown to other young scholars that it is not only possible to undertake scholarly projects on Rusyn topics but also to publish the results of such research in the Rusyn language.
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