Ukrainian folk literature is vast.[2][3] Many Ukrainian fairy tales feature forests and grassy plains, with people working as farmers or hunters.[1] Many Ukrainian fairy tales feature animals.[4] There are often parallels with other regional traditions such as Russia, Turkey, and Poland.[5] One purpose of Ukrainian fairy tales was to teach children about dangers, and also the importance of growing crops for survival the following year.[1][4] Though teaching children was an important purpose of Ukrainian fairy tales, Ukrainian fairy tales were not exclusively for children.[6][7]
Characters in Ukrainian fairy tales often feature warriors, princes, and peasants.[5] Common features of narrative transition in Ukrainiankazky include mediators (objects, actions, notions, events, or conditions), magic helpers (objects, things, or supernatural beings, as inMare's Head), and triggers (signs or prohibitions).[6] These elements perform a linking function in the narrative and provide motivation for the main character to move from one setting to another.[6]
Professor of Folklore at theUniversity of Alberta,Natalie Kononenko writes that while historically often under occupation of foreign powers, folklore was one of the few means of cultural expression allowed to Ukrainian authors and scholars.[8]
Wheneastern Ukraine was under the rule of theRussian Empire, activities thought to promote feelings of Ukrainian nationalism or pride were banned, but folklore, seen as the province of a rural, ignorant people, was thought to be harmless.[8] Because folklore was considered to advance a perception that Ukraine (called “Little Russia” by theRussian Empire) was a backward, border place, research and study of Ukrainian folklore was even considered beneficial for the subjugation of Ukrainians.[8] It is in part due to this permissive view on Ukrainian folklore that scholarly work on Ukrainian folklore from the 1800s is available today.[8]
UnderSoviet Union rule encompassing both east and west Ukraine, folklore was treated more suspiciously by authorities.[9] The Soviet government realized the effectiveness of folklore and sought to replace traditional folklore with new Soviet folklore that promoted principles the Soviet government considered desirable such as submissiveness and collectivism.[9][10] Thus, Soviet rule censored olderUkrainian folklore and tales of aspects deemed threatening such as references to religion, or ideas which might encourage thoughts of Ukrainian pride or nationalism, including references particularly Ukrainian such aspysanky.[9]
Professor of folklore,Lidiia Dunayevska, compiled a series of Ukrainian folk tales between 1983 and 2004.[15]
Ukrainian folklorist,Mykola Zinchuk, collected, edited and published 40 volumes of Ukrainian fairy tales, published by the publishing house,Bukrek between 2003-2019.[16][17]
Children's book author,Zirka Menzatyuk, uses historical Ukrainian fairy tales as an inspiration for newer writing.[18]
Edited byIvan Malkovych, between 2005 and 2012, Ukrainian publisher,A-ba-ba-ha-la-ma-ha, published three volumes of Ukrainian fairy tales in a series called "100Kazok" (100 fairy tales). Each volume contained 100 fairy tales. 130,000 copies were printed of the first two volumes, and the 2005 volume was a book of the year.[19][20][21]
Irina Zheleznova translated a collection of Ukrainian fairy tales intoEnglish, entitledUkrainian Folk Tales, first published by Dnipro Publishers in 1981.[22]
A 1996 retelling of the Ukrainian fairy tale,The Mitten, by children's authorJan Brett, has become a best-selling classic.[23]
In 1996, Christina Oparenko retold collected Ukrainian fairy tales inUkrainian Folk-tales for the seriesOxford Myths and Legends.[24]
In 1997, Barbara Suwyn retold collected Ukrainian fairy tales inThe Magic Egg and Other Tales from Ukraine with editing and an introduction byNatalie Kononenko.[25]
Between 1994 and 2003,Canadian author, Danny Evanishen, wrote and published eleven books containing Ukrainian folk tales retold inEnglish.[26][27][28][29][30]
Some Ukrainian fairy tales have been featured on stamps ofUkrposhta, the national postal service ofUkraine.[32] Many have been retold inUkrainian animation.[33] The Ukrainian pop band,Kazka, takes its name from the Ukrainian word for fairy tale.[34] Some fairy tale characters have been created in sculpture, such as the statue ofIvasyk-Telesyk inLviv, Ukraine'sStryiskyi Park.[35]
^abcdefgSuwyn, Barbara (1997).The Magic Egg and Other Tales from Ukraine. Retold by Barbara J. Suwyn; drawings by author; edited and with an introduction by Natalie O. Kononenko. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, Inc. p. xxi.ISBN1563084252.
^Lashko, M.V. (July 20, 2023)."До 155 – річчя М. Грінченко"(PDF).Kyiv University named after B. Hrinchenko. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on July 20, 2023. RetrievedJuly 20, 2023.
Demedyuk, Мaryna. "УКРАЇНСЬКІ НАРОДНІ КАЗКИ НА СТОРІНКАХ ПОЛЬСЬКОГО ВИДАННЯ «ZBIOR WIADOMOSCI DO ANTROPOLOGII KRAJOWEJ»" [UKRAINIAN FOLKTALES IN POLISH ETHNOGRAPHIC EDITION «ZBIOR WIADOMOSCI DO ANTROPOLOGII KRAJOWEJ»]. In:The Ethnology Notebooks. 2019, № 5 (149), 1200—1204. UDK: 398.21(=161.2):050(438)”187/191”; DOI:https://doi.org/10.15407/nz2019.05.1200.
Kolessa, Fili︠a︡ret (1983).Ukraïnsʹka usna slovesnistʹ [Ukrainian Oral Literature] (in Ukrainian). Edmonton: Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, University of Alberta.
Lintur, Petro [uk].A Survey of Ukrainian Folk Tales. Volume 56 - Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies Edmonton, Alberta: Research report. Translated by Bohdan Medwidsky. Canada: Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies Press, University of Alberta, 1994.ISBN9781894301565.
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