User:Bulakhs/Literature of the Ukrainian diaspora

Literature of the Ukrainian diaspora or Ukrainian emigration literature is literature written by Ukrainian writers in exile who, for political, economic, and religious reasons, left Ukraine for permanent or long-term residence abroad. Diasporic literature is the result of the relocation of writers primarily due to numerous political repressions on the territory of Ukraine in the XX century. When socialist realism was proclaimed the only official style of art in the USSR, emigrant writers had greater freedom of artistic expression and the opportunity to interpret events in Ukraine critically. Thus, the Ukrainian diaspora literature of the 20th century developed in parallel with other European literature at a time when in Ukraine, these processes were stopped and replaced to a large extent by pure propaganda and pro-Soviet literary products.

Early history
One of the first literary works written by a Ukrainian author abroad is the poetic dedication of Yuriy Drohobych to Pope Sixtus IV. The dedication was published together with the work of Yuriy Drohobych, «The Predictive Assessment of the Current 1483», in Zilber's printing house (Rome, 1483). This Roman edition is the first printed book written by a Ukrainian author. The Latin dedication concerns the human mind's ability to cognise the world's laws.

Essential works of memoir, epistolary literature and literary journalism were left by representatives of the so-called "Mazepa emigration" (1709-1750). First of all, these are the texts of Pylyp Orlyk (The Diariusz podrozny (Travel Diary); Notes sur l'Ukraine et les Cosaques qui sont peu connus en Europe (Notes on Ukraine and the Cossacks, about which Europe knows little); Code of rights of Ukraine)

Researchers date the beginning of labour emigration from the Ukrainian territory to the first half of the XVII century. Then there was the relocation to Vojvodina (now Serbia), Banat (now Romania), Srem and Slavonia (now Croatia). Literary achievements of this period are limited to developing the folk song genre of work songs.

In 1878–1881, a Ukrainian organization the Geneva Circle, headed by Mykhailo Drahomanov, included Mykhailo Pavlyk, Fedir Vovk, Mykola Ziber, and Serhiy Podolynskyi, published a Ukrainian political magazine Hromada in Geneva, which also issued literary works.

In a broad sense, the emigration literature includes most of the works of Mykola Gogol, who lived in Saint Petersburg. As well as most of Taras Shevchenko's works, because these works were written outside Ukraine: in St. Petersburg and exile in Kosaral island, and some lifetime editions of Taras Shevchenko were published, for example, in Leipzig.

However, Ukrainian literary studies usually speak of the literature of the Ukrainian diaspora or emigration literature from the establishment of long-term centres of literary life outside Ukraine (late XIX-early XX century).

History of literature in the diaspora
The first wave of Ukrainian emigration at the turn of the XIX—XX centuries is considered labour emigration, representing modest literary achievements that appeared mainly in the United States and Canada. In particular, it is a work and emigrant folk song genre that has come down to us in the collections of Volodymyr Hnatyuk, Filaret Kolessa and other folklorists.

The second wave of emigration was associated with the defeat of the national liberation struggle. This wave brought significant literary works and a live literary process atmosphere. Therefore, the first significant Ukrainian literary groups appeared in the 1920s. These included the Prague School (Yurii Lypa, Yurii Klen, Oleh Olzhych, Olena Teliha, Yevhen Malanyuk, Natalia Livytska-Kholodna, etc.) in Czechoslovakia and the Tank and My (We) literary groups in Poland. Writers of the Prague school were usually published in the Literaturno-naukovyi vistnyk (Literary Scientific Herald), edited by Dmytro Dontsov. They also had the magazine My (We) and a publishing house Variag. At this stage, diasporic literature was replenished with valuable literary creations and scientific and theoretical works by Leonid Biletskyi, Mykola Hnatyshak, Pavlo Zaitsev, and others.

World War II caused the next wave of Ukrainian emigrant writers. Many original literary works appeared thanks to freedom of expression in exile, which continued the modernist tradition broken in the UkSSR by political repression. Thus, in postwar Germany from 1945 to 1948, the organisation of Ukrainian writers Artistic Ukrainian Movement (MUR) (Ivan Bahrianyi,Viktor Domontovych, Yurii Kosach, Ihor Kostetskyi, etc.), headed by Ulas Samchuk, was functioning. There were also literary critics in MUR, including Yurii Shevelov, Volodymyr Derzhavyn, and Viktor Domontovych. Diaspora writers also saw translations of contemporary literary works as a crucial task. Active translators were Ihor Kostetskyi, Oleg Zuievskyi and Mykhailo Orest. Ihor Kostetskyi is also known as a literary critic and publisher; his publishing house Na hori (On the Mountain) has issued many works of Ukrainian writers, as well as Ukrainian translations of authors such as Dante, William Shakespeare, Paul Verlaine, Charles Baudelaire, Oscar Wilde, Ezra Pound, Stefan George and others.

After the resettlement of a large number of Ukrainian emigrants outside Germany, literary associations arose in English-speaking countries. Thus, in 1954, the writers' association Slovo became an analogue of the MUR, which brought together prose writers, poets, playwrights, and literary critics (Hryhorii Kostiuk, Yurii Sherekh, Vasyl Barka, Todos Osmachka, Ulas Samchuk, Dokiya Humenna, Olha Mak, and others).

The work of the informal association of poets called The New York Group of Poets (Yurii Tarnavsky, Emma Andievska, Bohdan Rubchak, Bohdan Boychuk, Maria Revakovych, Roman Babowal, etc.) was especially striking. Their works are marked by modernist elitist aesthetics and are distant from politics. However, some critics sometimes explain the difficulty in perceiving the poetry of some poets of the New York group, particularly Yurii Tarnavsky, due to their lack of knowledge of the Ukrainian language.

The Ukrainian diaspora created alternatives to Soviet structures to support Ukrainian cultural and literary life. This applies both to journals, among which the magazine Suchasnist (Modernity) was particularly influential, and to institutions devoted to the scientific study of Ukrainian literature (Ukrainian Free University, Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, and Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute). The Antonovych Prize was also established in the diaspora to honour the best literary works written in Ukrainian.

With Ukraine's independence, contacts between the "mainland" and diaspora writers became much more frequent. In general, the literature of the diaspora is increasingly integrated into the Ukrainian literary process.

At the same time, in Canada, the USA, Germany (first of all, Munich), France (Paris), Poland, Slovakia, Romania and other countries, important centres of the Ukrainian literature remain, Ukrainian magazines (Dukla, Slovakia), almanacs (Zerna , Germany) are published, there are some Ukrainian publishing houses (Brodina, Germany). Some contemporary Ukrainian writers prefer to live abroad in the Ukrainian diaspora but continue to write in Ukrainian. These include Vasyl Makhno, Volodymyr Dibrova, Oksana Lutsyshyna, Tania Malyarchuk, Viacheslav Druziaka, and Ihor Trach, who publishes the almanac Zerna in Germany.

Marko Robert Stech, together with Adriian Ivakhiv, Nestor Mykytyn and Roman Vashchuk, members of the theatre group the Avant-Garde Ukrainian Theater (AUT, Toronto), was one of the founders of the groundbreaking magazine Terminus, published in 1986-1989, which influenced Ukrainian literary underground of that time. .

Australia
The first Ukrainian book was published in Australia in 1951. It was a collection of impressionist short stories by Volodymyr Rusalskyi, After surrounding of the town.

The most prominent Ukrainian writers in Australia: Dmytro Nytchenko (Chub), his daughter Lesia Bohuslavets (Tkach), Jaroslaw Maslak (Hrytsko Volokyta), Zoia Kohut, Wasyl Onufrienko, Pylyp Vakulenko, Bohdan Podolianko, Halyna Chornobytska, Zoze Yevhen, M. Goya, Bozena Sirko, Bozhenna Kovalenko, Mykola Lazorskyi, Ivan Stotskyi, Lidia Hajewska-Denes, Maria Dejko, Tetiana Voloshka.

Yurii Tkach translates Ukrainian literature into English; in particular, he has translated works by Borys Antonenko-Davydovych, Oles Honchar, Valeriy Shevchuk, Ostap Vyshnia, Oles Berdnyk, Anatoliy Dimarov, and Igor Kaczurowskyj. Yurii Tkach also founded the Ukrainian publishing house Bayda Books. Dmytro Nytchenko founded the Ukrainian publishing house Lastivka, and Mykola Tsiurak founded the Knyha publishing house.

In 1954, the publishing house Lastivka (Melbourne) published an illustrated almanac of the Ukrainian diaspora in Australia, edited by Dmytro Nytchenko (Chub), The New Horizon.

The Mykola Zerov Society has been active in Adelaide for a long time, publishing some of the neoclassical heritage, a collection of memoirs about them, and a large volume of poems by Yevhen Pluzhnyk. There are quite a few Ukrainian literary and artistic clubs in Australia, such as the Vasyl Symonenko Club, founded by Dmytro Nytchenko in Melbourne, which periodically holds literary competitions.

North America

 * Canada

Literature in the Ukrainian language originated in Canada in the 90s of the XIX century. In 1897 Nestor Dmytriw published the first Ukrainian book, Kanadiiska Rus: podorozhni spomyny (Canadian Ruthenia: travel reminiscences). The first poem in Ukrainian was published in 1898 in the newspaper Svoboda by Ivan Zbura (1860-1940), and the poem was called Canadian Emigrants. From 1954–1998, Ukrainian writers in Canada and the United States had an association, Slovo, and since 1970 they have published a cognominal almanac (a total of 13 issues). In 1964, the almanac Northern Lights was published (5 issues).

There are many Ukrainian bookstores in Canada, one of the oldest being the Ukrainian Bookstore in Edmonton, founded in 1915. Since 1976, the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies (CIUS) in Edmonton has been actively publishing Ukrainian literature.


 * United States

Literature in the Ukrainian language originated in the United States, as well as in Canada, in the 90s of the XIX century. The first Ukrainian prose authors in the United States were G. Hrushka, Y. Chupka, S. Makar, N. Dmytriv, and Z. Bychynskyi. Dramatic works were published by M. Strutynskyi, I. Lutsyk, E. Musiychuk. Until 1998, Ukrainian writers were grouped in the association Slovo.

About 180 magazines written in Ukrainian were published in the United States, many of which published works of fiction writing.

The Ukrainian publishing houses Bulava (founded in 1950), Chervona Kalyna (founded in 1951), Knyhospilka (founded in 1952), Prolog (founded in 1953), and M. Dynysiuk Publishing House (Chicago) were active.

South America
In South America the Ukrainian diaspora is less numerous than in North America, but in 1910 the first cultural centre, Ukrainian Reading Room, was founded in Argentina. In 1948, the Ukrainian Central Representation of Ukrainian Societies of South America was established in Argentina, which published works of Ukrainian literature. Ukrainian writers were published in Ukrainian newspapers Ukrainske Slovo (founded in 1928), Nash Klych, Dzvin, Svitlo, and Znannia (all in Argentina). The most famous Ukrainian writer in South America is Vira Vovk, who lives in Brazil.

Europe

 * Western Europe
 * Austria

Ukrainian literature in Austria until 1918 was generally regarded as "mainland", although Ukrainian Eastern Galicia was part of Austria then. At the beginning of the XX century, there were many Ukrainian publishing houses in Vienna, the most famous of which were the Ivan Tyktor publishing house and the Nashy dni publishing house.


 * United Kingdom

The first generation of Ukrainian writers in United Kingdom is represented by such names as O. Voropay, M. Veres, V. Bora (B. Shkandrii), M. Dobrianskyi, G. Mazurenko, K. Zelenko, N. Drabat.

The second generation declared itself in the 1970s. These are, first of all, such writers as J. Vasyliuk, J. Rutkovskyi, M. Yurkiv, V. Dakivska, V. Slez.


 * Germany

Until 1939, the centre of Ukrainian emigration was Berlin. As a result of World War II, the Ukrainian diaspora in Germany in 1946 grew to 180,000. Munich became the centre of Ukrainian life in Germany. The years 1945–1951 were marked by the rapid development of Ukrainian literature in Germany. There were 44 Ukrainian publishing houses which published more than 700 book titles during the mentioned period. The most notable publishers were Suchasnist, Ukrainian Publishing House, Molode zhyttia, Verlag Ukraine, Na hori. A particularly striking page in the history of Ukrainian literature in Germany was the activity of the MUR, established in 1945. In the 1950s, most Ukrainian writers moved from Germany to the United States and Canada.


 * France

The Ukrainian diaspora in France is about 30 thousand people. Centres of Ukrainian literature are located mainly in Paris. The First Ukrainian Printing House operates here, which publishes books in the Ukrainian language and has its bookstore. The Symon Petliura Ukrainian Library organises events dedicated to Ukrainian literature in Paris.


 * Switzerland

The Ukrainian community in Switzerland was active primarily in the 1970s. At that time, the Ukrainian Printing House, founded by Mykhailo Drahomanov, operated in Geneva and published 112 Ukrainian books from 1876 to 1919. Works of Ukrainian literature were published in the magazine Hromada.


 * Eastern Europe


 * Lithuania

The writer Yaroslav Melnyk, who writes in Lithuanian and Ukrainian, lives and works in Lithuania.


 * Poland

Literary critics do not consider Ukrainian literature in Galicia to be diasporic, although, until 1939, Galicia was part of Poland. In the postwar period, works of Ukrainian literature were published in the Ukrainian-language press of Poland: the daily newspaper Nashe Slovo (since 1956), magazines Nasha Kultura (since 1958), Zustrichi (since 1980), Nash Holos, Nasha Tribuna. Ukrainian literature in Poland is represented by such names as Yurii Gavriliuk (* 1964), Olena Duts (* 1960), Tadei Karabovych (* 1959), Sofia Sachko (* 1955), Ivan Kyryziuk (* 1949), Petro Murianka (Trokhanovskyi, * 1947).

Fiction writing is developed on the basis of the Lemko dialect of the Ukrainian language. In 1969, an anthology of Lemko writers, Homin, was published.


 * Romania

Ukrainian literature in Romania is represented by such names as Ivan Nehriuk, Mykhailo Mykhailiuk, Pavlo Romaniuk, Mykola Korsiuk, Yevhen Myhaichuk, Mykhailo Nebyliak, Ivan Kovach, Teofil Reboshapka, S. Tkachuk, K. Regush, I. Nepohoda.

From 1919 to 1989, the newspaper Novyi Vik was published, which had a literary section. Magazines Obrii, Vilne slovo, Ukraiinskyi visnytk are published in Romania, where works of Ukrainian literature are often published. There is a Ukrainian publishing house, Criterion, which publishes both Ukrainian classics and contemporary Ukrainian-language writers in Romania.


 * Czech Republic

In the 1920s, there was an important literary group the Prague School. Ukrainian poets Viacheslav Druziaka and Anatoliy Krat have lived and worked in the Czech Republic since the 1990s. Ukrainian-language magazines Porohy (founded in 1993) and Ukrainian Journal (founded in 2005) are published in Prague. These magazines, published by organisations of Ukrainian national minorities with the financial support of the Czech government, also publish works by contemporary Ukrainian Czech poets and literary criticism. On the airwaves of radio Regina (the third channel of Czech Radio) a news program in Ukrainian is regularly broadcasted.


 * Slovakia

Ukrainian-language literature of the Prešov region is an important part of the all-Ukrainian literary process. Unlike immigration countries, the Prešov region has an indigenous Ukrainian population.

In Soviet times, the literary magazine Dukla was one of the most fascinating Ukrainian-language publications in Eastern Europe. The most prominent poet of the Prešov region is Stepan Hostyniak (the collection Proponuiu vam svoiu dorohu ( I Propose My Way to You) in 1965, Lyshe dvoma ochyma (Only with two eyes) in 1967). Other Ukrainian-language writers and public figures include Iryna Nevytska and Sebastian Sabol (Zoreslav). The Ukrainian section of the Union of Slovak Writers became a phenomenon of the post-war period:Vasyl Grendzha-Donsky, Ivan Matsynskyi, Mykhailo Shmaida, Eva Biss, Stepan Gostyniak, Ivan Yatskanyn, Yosyp Zbihlei not only created high-quality Ukrainian literature, they expanded its borders, bringing tangible European intonations, which did not exist in Soviet Ukraine.

Ukrainian literary criticism of Slovakia is represented by O. Rudlovchak, M. Nevrlyi, Y. Bacha, M. Mushynka.

In the XXI century, Ukrainian-language literature of Prešov region is modern and interesting. Vasyl Datsei's novel Synia ruzha was nominated for Shevchenko National Prize.


 * Balkans

There are numerous Ukrainian cultural and artistic societies in Bosnia. Ukrainian writers appear in a weekly radio program in Banja Luka. Among the Ukrainian writers of Bosnia it is worth mentioning such authors as P. Golovchuk, O. Vlasov, S. Kuleba, R. Myz, V. Strehalyuk, M. Lyakhovych, N. Lyakhovych, N. Sapun, I. Terliuk, B. Gralyuk. Ukrainian works are published in the magazines Nova dumka, Dymky z Dunaiu.



Asia

 * Israel

Prose writer Oleksandr Deco lived and worked in Israel.

Literary criticism in the diaspora
Significant activity in the Ukrainian diaspora is also devoted to studying Ukrainian literature. Ukrainian literature was studied at the Ukrainian Free University in Munich. Dmytro Chyzhevsky studied the history of Ukrainian literature at Heidelberg University. Well-known literary critics Yurii Shevelov and George G. Grabowicz worked at the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute. George S. N. Luckyj conducted literary studies at the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies in Edmonton, Myroslav Shkandrij at the University of Manitoba, and Maksym Tarnavskyi at the University of Toronto. Marko Pavlyshyn, an Australian scholar from Monash University, is a recognised literary critic. Ukrainian language and literature courses are regularly taught in these institutions.

An important contribution made a literary critic Yurii Lavrinenko, who compiled the anthology Executed Renaissance. Thanks to this work, the term of the same name for the literary generation of the 20s and 30s in Ukraine was established, and the forgotten and silenced by the USSR works of prominent Ukrainian writers who suffered illegal repression during Stalinism were returned.

The connection of diasporic and 'mainland' literature
In many literary studies, a division is made between Ukrainian-language literature written in the diaspora and on the territory of Ukraine (which is called the mainland) due to different ways of development. Even though diasporic literature often had a higher artistic quality than the official Soviet work, the first lacked a mass reader and distribution in the UkSSR. Contemporary Ukrainian writers and literary critics often approach diasporic literature because of its connection with Western literature and, in this sense, greater modernity both in using descriptive measures and in the perception of reality freed from Soviet stereotypes. Also, the literary methodology of diaspora scholars is closer to modern Western approaches than a significant part of Ukrainian scholars. This is also manifested in different views of the place of certain writers in the Ukrainian literary canon. At the same time, literary works of diaspora writers (for example, Vasyl Barka and Emma Andiievska) are included in Ukrainian school and university programs. In recent years, many reissues of works by diasporic Ukrainian writers have also appeared in Ukraine..

After Ukraine gained independence, a significant part of the literary and cultural activities of the diaspora was transferred to Ukraine. Many such materials were transferred to NaUKMA. Some Ukrainian writers and publishers from the diaspora have also moved to Ukraine, such as Mykola Rudenko and Osyp Zinkevych. The magazine Suchasnist has been published in Kyiv since 1992. The Ukrainian publishing house Smoloskyp, founded in 1967 in the USA, has been operating in Ukraine since 1993. Ukrainians abroad have become contributors to Ukrainian print media. Thus they began to influence the Ukrainian literary discourse. In some cases, separate publications were created for this purpose. For example, the intellectual journal Krytyka, founded and edited by

George Grabowicz, a professor at Harvard University, often publishes texts by Ukrainian writers and literary critics from the diaspora.

Foreign-language literature of the diaspora
Due to their extended stay abroad, some Ukrainian writers in the diaspora were bilingual, i.e. they wrote works not only in Ukrainian but also in the language of their country of residence. For example, Roman Babowal wrote in Ukrainian and French, and some works by Yurii Tarnavskyi were written in English.

The children of Ukrainian emigrants often integrated into the new society and adopted the language of their new homeland. Some have achieved considerable recognition, such as writers Andreas Okopenko and Giorgio Scerbanenco. Ukrainian themes are preserved in the works of some writers, including Askold Melnyczuk, Alexander J. Motyl and Janice Kulyk Keefer, who write in English. Maryna Levytska' s English-language satirical novel A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, dedicated to the lives of Ukrainian emigrants, has gained international recognition and translated into many languages, including Ukrainian. In 2013, a German-speaking writer from Kyiv, Katja Petrowska, won the Ingeborg Bachmann Prize for the novel Maybe Esther..

Due to their good knowledge of other languages, Ukrainians in the diaspora also translated Ukrainian literary works, thus popularising them abroad. Vira Vovk translated from Portuguese into Ukrainian, Marko Tsarynnyk,  Konstiantyn-Henry Andrusyshyn - into English,  Anna-Halya Horbach and others - into German.

In Canada, there is the Kobzar Literary Award, awarded for literary works dedicated to the theme of Ukrainians in Canada.

Researches of diaspora literature
The first thorough studies of diaspora literature belonged to émigré literary critics, who themselves were often participants in literary processes. Thus, Yurii Sherekh, Deputy Chairman of the MUR, wrote several articles on Ukrainian literary emigration. Members of the New York group Bohdan Boychuk and Maria Revakovych analysed the work of their literary association in their articles.

Since Ukraine's independence, the literature of the Ukrainian diaspora has become open to Ukraine. Therefore, many Ukrainian literary critics turned to study the works of writers banned during the Soviet era. Among the most exciting investigations on this topic are the works of Mykola Ilnytskyi, Solomiia Pavlychko, Oleksandr Astafyev, Yurii Kovaliv, Vitalii Matsko, Svitlana Vodolazka, Vira Pushko, Mykhailo Spodarets, Olena Brosalina, and others.

Particularly noteworthy is the contribution of Solomiia Pavlychko, who researched individual diaspora writers and groups, such as Oleg Zuevskyi, Ihor Kostetskyi, Yurii Kosach, Zinovyi​​Berezhan, Vasyl Barka, Mykhailo Orest, Askold Melnyczuk, MUR, and the New York Group. In the Dyskurs modernizmu v ukrains'kii literaturi (The Discourse of Modernism in Ukrainian Literature), she considers Ukrainian literature as a whole, jointly analysing the "mainland" and diasporic branches of the literary process.

Anthologies of diaspora writers

 * Координати: антологія сучасної української поезії на Заході, том І і ІІ, упорядники Богдан Рубчак, Богдан Бойчук, Видавництво «Сучасність», Мюнхен, 1969.
 * Антологія з української літератури в Канаді / Упорядник Яр Славутич. — Едмонтон, 1973.
 * Антологія української поезії в Канаді : 1898—1973 / Упорядник Яр Славутич. — Едмонтон: Слово, 1973.
 * Українська поезія світу: Золотий гомін. В 2 томах / Упорядник А. Мойсієнко. — Київ, 1991, 1997.
 * Поза традиції. Антологія української модерної поезії в діяспорі, Київ-Торонто-Едмонтон-Оттава: Канадський інститут українознавчих студій, 1993.
 * Поети Нью-Йоркської групи. Антологія / Упорядники О. Астаф'єв, Анатолій Дністровий. — Київ, 2003.
 * Півстоліття напівтиші: Антологія поезії Нью-Йоркської групи. Київ: Факт, 2005. 372 c.
 * М. Слабошпицький, 25 поетів української діаспори. — К.: видавництво «Ярославів Вал», 2006. — 728 с.
 * Антологія далекосхідної української лірики / Олександр Лозиков (ред.), Грицько Синьогуб (передмова). — Хабаровск: Екумена, 2009. — 176 с.
 * АЗ, два, три… дванадцять — лист у пляшці: Антологія Авторського Зарубіжжя. — Л.: Піраміда, 2010. — 312 с.