Short survey on Ukrainian literature

the use of the local language and dialects by the great Ukrainian authors

Ukraine had a glorious history, but almost a thousand years ago. The Kievan State was an important player in the late history of the Byzantine Empire and was the main promoter of the idea of ​​statehood in Eastern Europe. Without clear borders, as it did not border any other state, Kievan Rus had 350 years of glory, from the 9th to the 13th century. During that time, Kiev developed a specific cultural synthesis. This established the foundation from which all the cultures of the Eastern Slavs evolved, from today’s Ukrainians to Poles, Belarusians and Muscovite Russians.

Occupation

The Ukrainian state collapsed after the Mongol invasion of 1240. Later, historical Ukraine was divided into state formations that had or did not have autonomy and were incorporated into the new states that developed in Eastern Europe: from the Golden Horde and the Tatars who settled in the Crimea, to the Polish-Lithuanians, who dominated the north, and to the Muscovite Russians, who built an empire in the east.

After 1240, until 1990, Ukraine lost its independence and was dominated by surrounding countries. Both Poles and Russians, relying on real kinship, tried to assimilate Ukrainians. They resisted, however, and their history is full of fierce uprisings. These riots constituted the substance of the work of Taras Shevchenko, the first great Ukrainian writer, in the 19th century.

Local language and culture survived, but in non-institutionalized forms and with many local variations. During the Soviet period, the use of the Ukrainian language in literature and cinematography was discouraged. However, works in Ukrainian continued to appear.

Local dialect

One of the defining characteristics of Ukrainian literature is the use of numerous dialects. Literary, “standard” Ukrainian is based on the Kiev-Poltava dialect. However, many writers also incorporated regional dialects into their works. Independence in 1991 triggered a centralist, linguistic standardization effort, but works in dialects and dialects continued to appear. They reflect an extraordinary demographic and cultural diversity.

For example, Vasîl Stefanîk’s novel The Stone Cross is written in the Lemko dialect, which was spoken by a group of Ukrainians living in present-day Poland. Mîhailo Koțiubînskîi’s works often incorporate elements of the Huțul dialect, which is spoken in the Carpathian Mountains, in the North Bucovina area. These regional dialects add depth and authenticity to the characters and settings presented in Ukrainian literature, but also reflect the country’s diverse linguistic landscape.

In addition to regional dialects, some writers used other languages ​​besides Ukrainian. Oksana Zabuško’s novel “Field Studies on Ukrainian Sex” includes passages in English. Yuri Andruhovîci’s collection of essays, “Moscoviada”, includes sections written in Russian.

This incorporation of multiple languages ​​reflects Ukraine’s complex history as a country that has been part of different empires and political systems over the centuries. Using different languages ​​and dialects, Ukrainian writers are able to capture this complexity and create a more nuanced portrayal of their country and local communities.

Serious themes

A major trauma, a century ago, defined the reconstruction of the national spirit for Ukrainians. If for all populations the establishment of the USSR was a process that led to thousands of victims, in Ukraine the crimes of communism took on the proportions of a genocide. In 1932-33, when political persecution was superimposed on a prolonged drought, several million Ukrainians died at the fault of the Soviets. The Great Ukrainian Famine, or Holodomor , affected the Ukrainian population massively. Over time, this trauma led to permanent tensions between Ukrainians and Russians. And these tensions were an essential component in the redefinition of a Ukrainian consciousness.

References to the Holodomor were banned during the Soviet era for six decades. They were able to appear in scientific and fictional literature only after the fall of communism. For Ukraine, the fall of communism corresponded with the dissolution of the USSR and, implicitly, the achievement of independence.

After independence, contemporary Ukrainian literature had a rapid rise and international recognition to match. Addressing serious themes such as totalitarianism and the Holodomor, Ukrainian writers have impressed and are frequently translated into popular languages. Euromaidan, the Donbas conflict since 2014, and the Russian invasion in 2022 have unfortunately added other themes of extreme gravity.

The spirit of Ukrainian literature

Atrocities in recent history have given rise to literature with dark and violent undertones. Many of the works are explorations of human limits, in extremely dramatic situations. At the same time, they represent a reaction to the “compulsive optimism” that the Soviet Union cultivated during its years of dominance.

The literature of the Ukrainian diaspora during the communist era exerts an important influence on Ukrainian literature today. Forced Russification, institutional abuse, flagrant violation of human rights, explicit violence mark many of the most important works. The recovery of diaspora literature also meant the recovery of some modernist currents that strengthen the “dark” expression of Ukrainian literature. Surrealism, expressionism, various expressions of the avant-garde are revitalized in Ukrainian literature. They complement serious themes with an artistic language that is itself violent.

This literature also has the role of filling historical gaps in the evolution of a literature that the Soviets had reduced to being a convenient servant of party politics.

see also the article Totalitarianism in universal literature (RO)

The Ukrainian, the Russian and the ostrich

Not all Ukrainian authors write in the Ukrainian language or one of the dialects. Writers who established themselves before 1990 often prefer to use the Russian language, even if they are not Russophiles. This is often the case with writers who tackle specific subgenres, such as science fiction.

Another special figure is Andrei Kurkov. One of the most acclaimed authors in today’s Ukraine, Kurkov was born in the Leningrad region. He moved to Kiev at the age of two when his military father was deployed to Ukraine. His work includes themes with a great local specificity, but is written in Russian. Moreover, Russian is well known to Ukrainians, after three hundred years it was a mandatory language in many regions of Ukraine.

The Russian language is also used by many satirical authors. Often the comic effect is achieved by using a mixture of Russian and Ukrainian words.

The long coexistence of the two languages ​​led to the emergence of a specific dialect, “Surjic”, in which Russian and Ukrainian are indecipherably mixed. The dialect was formed in the countryside and is still spoken by good percentages of the population. The share differs from one region to another: below 3% in Galicia, but over 20% in Kharkiv. A simplistic and inconsistent “pidgin”, Surjic has social and mental connotations that make its literary use par excellence satirical. In continuation of this naturally and historically occurring language, humorists make their own mixture of Russian and Ukrainian. Thus, they illustrate historical tensions, evolutions of mentality and the need for social evolution.

(translation from: Literatura ucraineană: folosirea limbii și dialectelor locale de către marii autori)