Hupalo O. - Iryna Steshenko Essays - Legislators, Legislatures

Hupalo O. - Iryna Steshenko Essays - Legislators, Legislatures Hupalo Olha Inp-32 Iryna Steshenko as a translator of Anglophone literature Iryna Steshenko is a spectacular Ukrainian actress and a prominent translator. She was brought up in a family where people treasured folk traditions and customs. All members of her family were related to literature, education and Ukrainian culture in general. In order to get to know her better as a translator, we should dive deeper into her biography. Iryna Steshenko was born on July 5, 1898, in Kyiv. She is the daughter of Ivan M. Steshenko and Oksana Steshenko, the cousin of Lesya Ukraiinka and the granddaughter of Mykhailo Starytsky - the coryphaeus of the Ukrainian Theatre . Iryna Steshenko was the last representative of the renowned ancestry, which, after her death in 1987, ceased to exist. From early childhood, she began studying foreign languages. At the age of three, she had a governess from Germany and at five - from France. Hence she obtained a good command of those languages. In 1918 she graduated from the Faculty of Philology of Higher Women's Studies in Kyiv. After graduation, in addition to her mother language, she was fluent in Russian, German, French, and English. Not every woman back then had the opportunity to obtain such solid and versatile knowledge. In 1920 Iryna Steshenko graduated from the Lysenko Music and Drama Institute. It was then that Pavlo Tychyna - Taras Shevchenko Theatre dramaturge at that time - approached her and asked to translate some comedies by Moliere. These were The Bourgeois Gentleman , The Imaginary Invalid , Scapin the Schemer . Tychyna would later edit her translations to be suitable for the theatre. These plays were often featured in Ukrainian theatres. After that Iryna Steshenko was paying more and more attention to the artistic translation, and from 1949 she devoted herself to it completely. The achievements of Iryna Steshenko as a translator are particularly notable, because she, as a person with a solid education and as a descendant of famous writers, had an extraordinary feeling of the Ukrainian language; she knew it perfectly and used it skilfully . The language of her translations is academic and graceful, but at the same time, it is alive and natural. From the very beginning, Steshenko as a translator set very strict requirements to herself. The translation, in her opinion, is a creative obsession with the work which one translates and its author, not the mechanic "transference" into another language, albeit being done at a high professional level. A translated work must feel as if it was written in the target language: only the stylistic characteristics, peculiarities of thinking and the details of everyday life should tell a reader that it is the work of a writer of another nation. She worked solely with the original pieces and was very indignan t at the offer to translate from Russian to Ukrainian. In her translations she paid great attention to the logical cohesion of phrases in lines and stanzas, to euphony of verses and to the natural ease of speech as well as to the rendition of the inner force pertained to the source language idiom. Steshenko skilfully reproduced verbal images of both representatives of the highest class of society and ordinary people. It distinguishes her among other translators, especially considering the current tendency to use taboo vocabulary in translations and original works. Among contemporary Ukrainian translators who dealt with the works of William Shakespeare, Iryna Steshenko is the most productive . She translated six of his pieces: The Merchant of Venice (1950), Othello (1950), Romeo and Juliet (1952), Much Ado About Nothing (1952), The Comedy of Errors (1954), The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1963). I was lucky to happen upon her translation of plays Much Ado About Nothing (1-2) and Romeo and Juliet (3) . Here are some interesting cases. Beatrice and Benedict's speech is a powerful source of wordplay in the original text. The puns were very popular in the days of Elizabethan England and Shakespeare's texts are full of them . Benedick : O God , sir , here's a dish I love not : I cannot endure my Lady Tongue : ! ... , ; Messenger : And a good soldier too , lady

Battle of Wake Island in World War II

Battle of Wake Island in World War II The Battle of Wake Island was fought from December 8-23, 1941, during the opening days of World War II (1939-1945). A tiny atoll in the central Pacific Ocean, Wake Island was annexed by the United States in 1899. Located between Midway and Guam, the island was not permanently settled until 1935 when Pan American Airways built a town and hotel to service their trans-Pacific China Clipper flights. Consisting of three small islets, Wake, Peale, and Wilkes, Wake Island was to the north of the Japanese-held Marshall Islands and east of Guam. As tensions with Japan rose in the late 1930s, the US Navy began efforts to fortify the island. Work on an airfield and defensive positions began in January 1941. The following month, as part of Executive Order 8682, the Wake Island Naval Defensive Sea Area was created which limited maritime traffic around the island to US military vessels and those approved by the Secretary of the Navy. An accompanying Wake Island Naval Airspace Reservation was also established over the atoll. Additionally, six 5 guns, which had previously been mounted on USS Texas (BB-35), and 12 3 anti-aircraft guns were shipped to Wake Island to bolster the atolls defenses. The Marines Prepare While work progressed, the 400 men of the 1st Marine Defense Battalion arrived on August 19, led by Major James P.S. Devereux. On November 28, Commander Winfield S. Cunningham, a naval aviator, arrived to assume overall command of the islands garrison. These forces joined the 1,221 workers from the Morrison-Knudsen Corporation which were completing the islands facilities and the Pan American staff which included 45 Chamorros (Micronesians from Guam). By early December the airfield was operational, though not complete. The islands radar equipment remained at Pearl Harbor and protective revetments had not been built to protect aircraft from aerial attack. Though the guns had been emplaced, only one director was available for the anti-aircraft batteries. On December 4, twelve F4F Wildcats from VMF-211 arrived on the island after being carried west by USS Enterprise (CV-6). Commanded by Major Paul A. Putnam, the squadron was only on Wake Island for four days before the war began. Forces Commanders United States Commander Winfield S. CunninghamMajor James P.S. Devereux527 men12 F4F Wildcats Japan Rear Admiral Sadamichi Kajioka2,500 men3 light cruisers, 6 destroyers, 2 patrol boats, 2 transports, and 2 carriers (second landing attempt) The Japanese Attack Begins Due to the islands strategic location, the Japanese made provisions to attack and seize Wake as part of their opening moves against the United States. On December 8, as Japanese aircraft were attacking Pearl Harbor (Wake Island is on the other side of the International Date Line), 36 Mitsubishi G3M medium bombers departed the Marshall Islands for Wake Island. Alerted to the Pearl Harbor attack at 6:50 AM and lacking radar, Cunningham ordered four Wildcats to begin patrolling the skies around the island. Flying in poor visibility, the pilots failed to spot the inbound Japanese bombers. Striking the island, the Japanese managed to destroy eight of VMF-211s Wildcats on the ground as well as inflicted damage on the airfield and Pam Am facilities. Among the casualties were 23 killed and 11 wounded from VMF-211 including many of the squadrons mechanics. After the raid, the non-Chamorro Pan American employees were evacuated from Wake Island aboard the Martin 130 Philippine Clipper which had survived the attack. A Stiff Defense Retiring with no losses, the Japanese aircraft returned the next day. This raid targeted Wake Islands infrastructure and resulted in the destruction of the hospital and Pan Americans aviation facilities. Attacking the bombers, VMF-211s four remaining fighters succeeded in downing two Japanese planes. As the air battle raged, Rear Admiral Sadamichi Kajioka departed Roi in the Marshall Islands with a small invasion fleet on December 9. On the 10th, Japanese planes attacked targets in Wilkes and detonated a supply of dynamite which destroyed the ammunition for the islands guns. Arriving off Wake Island on December 11, Kajioka ordered his ships forward to land 450 Special Naval Landing Force troops. Under the guidance of Devereux, Marine gunners held their fire until the Japanese were within range of Wakes 5 coastal defense guns. Opening fire, his gunners succeeded in sinking the destroyer Hayate and badly damaging Kajiokas flagship, the light cruiser Yubari. Under heavy fire, Kajioka elected to withdraw out of range. Counterattacking, VMF-211s four remaining aircraft succeeded in sinking the destroyer Kisaragi when a bomb landed in the ships depth charge racks. Captain Henry T. Elrod  posthumously  received the Medal of Honor for his part in the vessels destruction. Calls for Help While the Japanese regrouped, Cunningham and Devereux called for aid from Hawaii. Stymied in his attempts to take the island, Kajioka remained nearby and directed additional air raids against the defenses. In addition, he was reinforced by additional ships, including the carriers Soryu and Hiryu which were diverted south from the retiring Pearl Harbor attack force. While Kajioka planned his next move, Vice Admiral William S. Pye, the Acting Commander-in-Chief of the US Pacific Fleet, directed Rear Admirals Frank J. Fletcher  and Wilson Brown to take a relief force to Wake. Centered on the carrier USS Saratoga (CV-3) Fletchers force carried additional troops and aircraft for the beleaguered garrison. Moving slowly, the relief force was recalled by Pye on December 22 after he learned that two Japanese carriers were operating in the area. That same day, VMF-211 lost two aircraft. On December 23, with the carrier providing air cover, Kajioka again moved forward. Following a preliminary bombardment, the Japanese landed on the island. Though Patrol Boat No. 32 and Patrol Boat No. 33 were lost in the fighting, by dawn over 1,000 men had come ashore. Final Hours Pushed out of the southern arm of the island, American forces mounted a tenacious defense despite being outnumbered two-to-one. Fighting through the morning, Cunningham and Devereux were forced to surrender the island that afternoon. During their fifteen-day defense, the garrison at Wake Island sank four Japanese warships and severely damaged a fifth. In addition, as many as 21 Japanese aircraft were downed along with a total of around 820 killed and approximately 300 wounded. American losses numbered 12 aircraft, 119 killed, and 50 wounded. Aftermath Of those who surrendered, 368 were Marines, 60 US Navy, 5 US Army, and 1,104 civilian contractors. As the Japanese occupied Wake, the majority of the prisoners were transported from the island, though 98 were kept as forced laborers. While American forces never attempted to re-capture the island during the war, a submarine blockade was imposed which starved the defenders. On October 5, 1943, aircraft from  USS  Yorktown (CV-10) struck the island. Fearing an imminent invasion, the garrison commander, Rear Admiral Shigematsu Sakaibara, ordered the execution of the remaining prisoners. This was carried out on the northern end of the island on October 7, though one prisoner escaped and carved  98 US PW 5-10-43  on a large rock near the killed POWs mass grave. This prisoner was subsequently re-captured and personally executed by Sakaibara. The island was re-occupied by American forces on September 4, 1945, shortly after the wars end. Sakaibara was later convicted of war crimes for his actions on Wake Island and hung on June 18, 1947.