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Ukrainian literature

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Ukrainian literature (Ukrainian: Українська література) is literature written in the Ukrainian language.[1][2][3]

Ukrainian literature mostly developed under foreign domination over Ukrainian territories, foreign rule by the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Poland, the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Romania, the Austria-Hungary Empire, and the Ottoman Empire, enriched Ukrainian culture and language, and Ukrainian authors were able to produce a rich literary heritage.

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Definition

Contemporary Ukrainian literature refers to the period after the Perestroika and the foundation of Bu-Ba-Bu. In the language sense, Ukrainian literature can be broadly divided into Ukrainian-speaking writers and Russian-speaking writers who live in Ukraine and write Ukrainian themes. However, works written in Surzhyk, or Ukrainian by foreign authors, can also be seen as Ukrainian literature.[4] Works written in Crimean Tatar language or foreign languages by Ukrainian people also count.[a][5]

Ukrainian literature of the past has been rediscovered and repositioned through historical traces.[6][7] Russian literature has also a similar process.[6][7] In history, the relationship between Ukraine and Russia has been fluid. This is because they were not separated in the past, and there are multiple criteria for classification, making it difficult to determine. [b][9] Since Ukrainian independence, there's a trend toward Ukrainianization and Derussification of publishing, and the proportion of Ukrainian works continues to increase.[11][12]

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History

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Main article: History of Ukrainian literature

Ukrainian literature’s precursor: writings in Old-Church Slavonic and Latin in Ukraine

Prior to the establishment of Ukrainian literature in the 18th century, many authors from Ukraine wrote in "scholarly" languages of the Middle Ages – Latin and Old-Church Slavonic. Among prominent authors from Ukraine who wrote in Latin and Old-Church Slavonic are Hryhorii Skovoroda, Yuriy Drohobych, Stanislav Orikhovsky-Roxolan, Feofan Prokopovych, Jan-Toma Yuzefovych [pl], Pavlo Rusyn-Krosnyanyn [pl] and others.

Beginnings of oral Ukrainian literature

During this period of history there was a higher number of elementary schools per population in the Hetmanate than in either neighboring Muscovy or Poland. In the 1740s, of 1,099 settlements within seven regimental districts, as many as 866 had primary schools.[13] The German visitor to the Hetmanate, writing in 1720, commented on how the son of Hetman Danylo Apostol, who had never left Ukraine, was fluent in the Latin, Italian, French, German, Polish and Russian languages[14]

Late 16th and early 17th century included the rise of folk epics called dumy. These songs celebrated the activities of the Cossacks and were oral retellings of major Ukrainian historical events in modern Ukrainian language (i.e., not in Old-Church Slavonic). This tradition produced Ostap Veresai, a renowned minstrel and kobzar from Poltava province, Ukraine.

Beginnings of written Ukrainian literature

More information Ivan Kotlyarevsky (1769–1838), Taras Shevchenko (1814–1861) ...

The establishment of Ukrainian literature is believed to have been triggered by the publishing of a widely successful poem Eneida by Ivan Kotliarevsky in 1798, which is one of the first instances of a printed literary work written in modern Ukrainian language.[15][16] Due to Kotliarevsky's role as the inaugurator of Ukrainian literature, among literary critics he is often referred to as "the father of Ukrainian literature".[17] Modern Ukrainian prose was inaugurated by Hryhorii Kvitka-Osnovianenko’s novel Marusya (1834).[15][16]

Contemporary literature

Main article: Contemporary Ukrainian literature

Since the late 1980s, and particularly after the independence of Ukraine (1991) and disappearance of Soviet censorship the whole generation of writers emerged: Sofia Maidanska, Ihor Kalynets, Moysey Fishbein, Yuri Andrukhovych, Serhiy Zhadan, Oksana Zabuzhko, Oleksandr Irvanets, Yuriy Izdryk, Maria Matios, Ihor Pavlyuk and many others. Many of them are considered to be "postmodernists".

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Events, Prizes, Organisations

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Following the 2000s, literature events like book fairs and book forums are increasing. Noticeable events are Arsenal Book Festival held in Kyiv in May, Book Forum Lviv held in Lviv in September. In addition to book introductions, these events will feature film screenings, concerts, and plays.[c][19] Ukrainian publishers also attend various international book fairs, such as Frankfurt Book Fair. [20]

Literary prize includes Shevchenko National Prize, Koronatsiya Slova, and Book of the Year BBC Ukraine. Shevchenko National Prize is the highest state prize of Ukraine for works of culture and the arts, awarded for achievements in various fields of Ukraine. There are up to six prizes in the Shevchenko National Prize, including Literature, Journalism, Music, Theatre, Film, and Performing Arts. Koronatsiya Slova established in 1999. There are up to five prizes in it, including Novels, Lyrics, Film scripts, Plays, and Children's literature. "Book of the Year BBC Ukraine" is established by BBC, awarding adult and children's Ukrainian literature. [21]

There was an artists' organisation called "Union of Ukrainian Writers" since the Soviet era. However, the younger generation held a negative reputation for it. [d] In 1997, therefore, the Union of Ukrainian Writers was founded, and in 1998, PEN Ukraine was founded.[23]

Notable Ukrainian authors

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See also

Notes

  1. For the Crimean Tatar language, there is Emil Amit; for Ukrainian people living abords, there's Marjana Gaponenko who born in Odesa but moved to Germany.[5]
  2. Scholars have some criteria to determine the work's belonging, including the author's ethnicity, language, self-identification, and the setting of the work.[8] Historically, some Ukrainian writers who wrote in Russian have a Russian (or the Soviet Union later) identity.[9] For example, Krysh and Kostomarov of the Ukrainian nationalist movement Brotherhood of Saints Cyril and Methodius chose the path of improving Ukraine's status within Russia rather than Ukrainian independence. [10]
  3. In 2017, 50,000 people visited the Arsenal Book Festival, and 15,000 visited the Book Forum Lviv. [18]。
  4. When the Soviet Union responded to the Prague Spring with a military intervention, the only opponent of the intervention from the group is Lina Kostenko.[22]
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References

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External links

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