Discussion of Professor Buyniak’s Paper

Professor Buyniak's careful survey is the most complete history to date of Slavic Studies in Canada. A commentator will hardly improve on his thoroughness, but he can voice a few hopes and add a few critical observations which would normally not have a place in a factual study of this kind. The first observation to be made is that Slavic studies, like other area studies, have gone through a period of growing pains, marked not merely by lack of funds and foresight on the part of university administrations, but also by difficulties inherent in venturing into unfamiliar grounds. The profession should perhaps face the fact that the distrust on the part of university administrations in the early years was not only due to short-sightedness and a built-in conservatism, but in part to the absence of qualified Slavic scholars. During the first post-war years many appointments were made, even senior appointments, that were the result of a hasty and improper appraisal of candidates for academic positions. Indeed, there were no precedents for evaluating the credentials of Europeans eager to teach in Slavic Studies, and brandishing unfamiliar certificates of proficiencyor sometimes with no certificates at alland demanding academic positions on the strength of them. The consequences of appointments made on the basis of such credentials were sometimes painful and caused administrators for years to look askance at the whole profession, withholding their trust and their funds from the doubtful and the deserving candidates alike. It is gratifying to be able to say that this period is now definitely over; new appointments are being made on the basis of the same criteria as in other fields and the growing output of scholarly works bespeaks the growing strength and quality of the profession. In this connection, it may be pointed out that students of "purely" Anglo-Saxon origin are beginning to take interest in Slavic Studies and this augurs well for the future: only they can furnish a durable basis for the development of Slavic Studies. Another observation is in the nature of a caveat: there is dangerand that danger is not lesseningthat Slavic specialists will be drawn into the duels of the Cold War and will, in fact, become its instruments.