Svitlana Namestiuk

Svitlana Namestiuk is an Associate Professor in the Department of Foreign Languages at Bukovina State Medical University. As a recipient of the Thémis mobility programme from the Fondation Maison des Sciences de l’Homme (FMSH, France), she carried out her research project at the GEO Laboratory (UR 1340) at the University of Strasbourg. A specialist in literature, translation, and the didactics of specialised languages, she is the author of over 130 academic publications. Her current research focuses in particular on the cognitive functions of literature, cultural myths, and their reception in the Francophone context.

The project

Title: Réception française du mythe du Donbass

This research project focuses on the myth of Donbass as a literary and cultural phenomenon, analysed at the intersection of historical memory, identity conflicts, and external perceptions. In contemporary Ukrainian literature, Donbass is portrayed as a borderland shaped by a complex history of Sovietisation, industrialisation, and war. The study examines how this region is (re)mythologised through literary works by authors such as Serhiy Zhadan, Luba Yakymchuk, Oleksandr Mykhed, among others, and how these texts deconstruct inherited stereotypes from the past.

The project also investigates the reception of the Donbass myth in France, particularly through translations, contemporary Francophone novels (such as those by Benoît Vitkine), and analyses in the media or academic scholarship. It aims to compare the mythological motifs present in both literatures, identify narrative and ideological divergences, and demonstrate how literary discourse contributes to the reactivation of regional identity within a transnational framework. This study forms part of a broader reflection on the cognitive and memorial functions of literature in times of war.

Hosting institution: the GEO laboratory at the University of Strasbourg

Selective Bibliography

• Namestiuk S.V. (2021). Une nouvelle lecture des classiques : méthodes modernes de gestion des connaissances dans le domaine de la théorie littéraire. Knowledge Management Competence for Achieving Competitive Advantage of Professional Growth and Development. Riga, 396–409.
• Namestiuk S.V. (2019). Fonctionnalité des modèles classiques et leurs réminiscences dans la réception de l'écrivain. Bulletin de l’Université Nationale Karazine de Kharkiv. Série Philologie, 83, 98–103.
• Namestiuk S., (2025). « La guerre hybride dans la littérature: cartographie virtuelle de l’Est », Modern Philology, 2025, n°3, DOI : 10.32782/modernph-2025.3.18.
• Namestiuk S., (2025). Constantes philosophiques et ontologiques de la poétique de la guerre. « Platon est mon ami, mais la vérité est plus précieuse »: entre fidélité à la mémoire et quête de vérité: recueil de documents de la IIIe Conférence internationale de la jeunesse (3-4 mars 2025, Tchernivtsi). Tchernivtsi : Université nationale de Tchernivtsi, 2025. 340 p. Р. 90-92. ISBN 978-966-423-966-7
• Namestiuk S., (2025). Rimes de guerre – déconstruction poétique de l’agression dans la création ukrainienne contemporaine et sa réception dans le discours éditorial et traductologique français (Intervention en français). Colloque international, Université de Strasbourg, (Laboratoire GEO « UR 1340 ») 18-19 juin 2025.