Join us to celebrate the release of Dr. Kononenko's new publication "Ukrainian Epic and Historical Song: Folklore in Context"
AUTHOR: Dr. Natalie Kononenko
DATE: Wednesday, 22 May 2019
TIME: 7:00 PM
VENUE: Chateau Louis Hotel, 11727 Kingsway Ave NW, T5G 3A1
AUTHOR:
Dr. Natalie Kononenko is a professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Cultural Studies at the University of Alberta and holds the Kule Chair in Ukrainian Ethnography. She led some of the first student groups to the USSR in the 1970-1980s, and in 1987 was one of the first US scholars to be allowed outside of Moscow. She lived three months in a hotel room in Kyiv doing archival research at the University and at the Academy of Sciences, and that research led to the publication of "Ukrainian Minstrels: And the Blind Shall Sing" (Armonk, New York and London, England: M.E. Sharpe, 1998). In 2007 she published "Slavic Folklore: A Handbook" (Westport and London: Greenwood Press). She served as editor of Folklorica, the Journal of the Slavic and East European Folklore Association for 5 years, where the journal was internationally recognized as being instrumental in re-establishing the dialogue between folklore scholars in the former Soviet Union and their colleagues in the West.
ABSTRACT:
Ukrainian epic, or dumy, were first recorded from blind mendicant minstrels in the nineteenth century. Yet they reflect events dating back to as early as the 1300's. Ukrainian Epic and Historical Song provides new translations in contemporary English. It also explains the historical events celebrated in epic and other historical songs: fierce battles, rebellion against tyranny, the struggles of captivity, the joys of escape from slavery. Natalie Kononenko's expert translation and analysis of Ukrainian epics provides a sweeping social history of folklore that is vital to Ukrainian identity. A translation of at least one variant of every known epic is included. Whereas earlier trends in folklore scholarship emphasized genre purity and compartmentalization, Kononenko critically examines the events about which songs were sung. Her emphasis on the lives of ordinary people rather than on leaders reshapes our understanding of how epics were composed and performed. Kononenko's ground-breaking analysis also illuminates Ukrainian self-understanding and explains how songs preserve and perpetuate historical memory. Scholars interested in epic song, history, and general folklore will benefit from this work. Members of the Ukrainian diaspora will find new appreciation of Ukrainian folklore.