The history of the Department of Theory and History of Ukrainian and World Literature of Vasyl’ Stus Donetsk National University dates back to the mid-1937, when a joint Department of Ukrainian, Russian and Foreign Literature appeared at Stalin Pedagogical Institute. S.S. Gutsalo was its first Head, who also headed the Department in the postwar period – until 1952. The Department in the 1940s included M.V. Logvinova, K.F. Spasenko, as well as graduates of 1941 – M.S. Lysak, I.F. Oslyak (who later was a Head of Zhytomyr Pedagogical Institute), V.A. Safronova. The graduates of the Department were: a prominent Ukrainian poet, literary critic, human rights activist, Hero of Ukraine, Vasyl Stus, and a leading Ukrainian literary critic and culturologist, academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Ivan Dziuba.

In 1990s the the Department of History of Ukrainian Literature and Folklore included V.O. Sobol (Doctor of Philology), S.V. Myshanych (Doctor of Philology), Associate Professors M.S. Fedorchuk, F.D. Pustova, V.V. Olifirenko, V.A. Prosalova, senior lecturer T.M. Matchenko, assistants, and later associate professors A.V. Davydova-Bila, O. Ye. Solovey, N.M. Ursani and other lecturers.

From 1991 to 2007, the Head of the Department of History of Ukrainian Literature and Folklore was Doctor of Philology, Professor Stepan Myshanych, a famous folklorist. Born in Transcarpathia, he actively took part in folklore expeditions, with which he traveled throughout Ukraine and the Ukrainian settlements of the Far East and Kuban. Professor Myshanych was the author of numerous scientific papers on topical issues of national folklore, a long-term lecturer of the course “Folkloristic”, the founder of the scientific professional collection “Actual Problems of Ukrainian Literature and Folklore”.

In September 2007, Doctor of Philology, Professor Vira Prosalova, a specialist in the field of Theory of Literature and History of Ukrainian Literature, was elected to be the Head of the Department of History of Ukrainian Literature and Folklore. Her research interests are wide: problems of intertextuality and intermediality, the Ukrainian literary process in exile, current problems of the modern literary process, problems of teaching literature in secondary and higher school.

In 2014, a new stage in the life of university literary critics began. Military actions in Donbas caused the evacuation of the university to Vinnytsia. During their stay in exile, the staff of the Department began to cooperate with the most important cultural and educational Podillya centers.

The Department of Theory and History of Ukrainian and World Literature of Vasyl Stus Donetsk National University was established in January 2016 by reorganizing of three departments: Department of Theory of Literature and Art Culture, Department of History of Ukrainian Literature and Folklore, and Department of Russian Literature. As a structural subdivision of the university, the Department carries out educational, methodical, scientific-innovative, organizational, international and educational work in the specialties “Ukrainian Language and Literature”, “Language and Literature (Russian)”, provides conducting of literary courses of the specialties: “Journalism”, “Culturology” on the Department of Philology of Vasyl Stus Donetsk National University.

The newly created Department is headed by Vira Prosalova – Doctor of Philology, Professor, author of more than 220 scientific and scientific-methodical works: three of them are monographs (“Text in the world of texts of the Prague Literary School”, “Intertextuality of literary text: text-forming and receptive aspects” (as co-author), “Intermediate aspects of modern Ukrainian literature”); two textbooks “Poetry of the Prague School” (letter of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine № 2/891 dated 5.06.2000), “Ukrainian literature of the interwar decades in exile” (letter of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine № 1.4 / 18G-1199 dated 28.05.2008), recommended by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine for students of universities; 20 educational and methodical works, numerous articles in professional publications of Ukraine and abroad. She prepared 6 PhD’s in Philology.

Since 2009, Vira Prosalovа has been the editor-in-chief of the literary collection “Actual Problems of Ukrainian Literature and Folklore”, which was included in the list of professional publications of Ukraine. It edited several literary collections of the Donetsk Bulletin of the Shevchenko Scientific Society (2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012). She’s been a member of the Donetsk Shevchenko Scientific Society since 1999, full member of Shevchenko Scientific Society since 2015; a member of the editorial board of the Humanitarian Department “Bulletin of Vasyl Stus Donetsk National University”. She was awarded the Diploma of the Ukraine-World Society for significant personal contribution into the development of cooperation with foreign Ukrainians, the Diploma of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine for conscientious long-term work, the Badge of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine “Excellence in Education”.

As the Head of the Department of Theory and History of Ukrainian and World Literature, Vira Prosalova has done a lot to create the image of a promising, successful and well-known team of scientists in Ukraine. She enjoys the well-deserved respect of colleagues and students, the democratic style of her leadership of the Department serves as a basis for the development of scientific potential of it.

As in the year 2019 the Department of Theory and History of Ukrainian and World Literature includes the Doctor of Philology, Professor Vira Prosalova, 4 PhD in Philology: Olha Punina, Nina Ursani, Oleh Solovey, Maria Reutova, assistant Victoria Chuyko. Members of the Department participate in the activities of creative unions, scientific institutions, in international and national conferences. Associate professors Oleh Solovey and Olha Punina founded the prestigious literary publication “Notes of Stusology”.

Students who are specialized in the history of Ukrainian and World literature are also involved into the scientific work of the Department: they participate in competitions and conferences of various levels, have the opportunity to publish the results of their researches in the collections of the university.