Ukrainian literature is an example of evolving despite: despite wars, language bans, publishing prohibitions, censorship, the killing of the intelligentsia, and so on. It was never erased, though. Thanks to our authors and literary communities, we can now talk about books that have shaped Ukrainian literature through time.
Given the rich diversity of Ukrainian literary heritage, we cannot cover all the books Ukrainians are proud of. However, let's explore some among the most significant of them.
Traditionally, the church has long been a key center of education for Ukrainians, which makes it logical that the first Ukrainian books, both written and printed, were religious texts. The Peresopnytsia Gospel is the first known translation of a canonical text from Church Slavonic into Old Ukrainian.
The manuscript contains the four Gospels of the New Testament. At the time it was published, the translation of church books demonstrated the maturity and richness of the language into which they were adapted. Thus, the creation of the Peresopnytsia Gospel was a key landmark in the evolution of the Ukrainian language.
Unlike many other classical translations, the book names the people responsible for it: Archimandrite Hryhorii and scribe Mykhailo Vasilievich. The two holy men created the manuscript at the Peresopnytsia monastery in Volyn Oblast.
Its vivid illustrations make it important not only for the language and its adapted contents but also for its visual beauty. According to Ukrainian bibliophile and scholar Yakym Zapasko, the Peresopnytsia Gospel's pages showcase the pronounced character of Ukrainian book art.
Traditionally, every Ukrainian president swears the oath of office on this book.
Ivan Kotliarevsky paid homage to Virgil and gave Ukraine its own Aeneid, adapting the epic poem with the cultural features, lexicon, and historical time frame of Ukraine at the turn of the 19th century. It was the first poem written in the modern Ukrainian literary language
, full of allusions and Ukrainian national spirit.
This poem arose during one of Ukraine's many cultural Renaissances. Despite the Tsar Peter I decree in 1720 prohibiting the printing of books in the Ukrainian language, the end of the 18th century saw a major Ukrainian literary revival, led by Kotliarevsky's Eneida.
The irony is that the first part of this poem, written in Ukrainian, was printed in St. Petersburg, the heart of Russia's intelligentsia, in 1798. Ivan Kotliarevsky, however, wasn't even aware of this at the time, and later was surprised that imperial censors allowed it.
The poem was published at the personal initiative of Maksym Parpura, a Ukrainian public figure and patron. The text even contained a special Ukrainian-Russian vocabulary to make it understandable for Russian-speaking audiences.
Scholar Olexiy Stavytskyi has called the poem an encyclopedia of Ukrainian national life.
Ukrainians see Taras Shevchenko as one of the founding fathers of their nation, with streets named and statues erected in his honor in every corner of the country. He is legendary for a reason as his verse gave voice to the Ukrainian hunger for freedom and social justice
, and his most famous volume of poetry was called Kobzar.
Freedom was among his own personal desires due to Shevchenko initially being born a kripak or serf. He had the extraordinary fortune of receiving an education and building a career as an artist, which was unheard of for people with his background.
The first edition of Kobzar from 1840 contained 8 poems, including the romantic Tarasova Nich, in which the poet appeals to the Ukrainian historical past in detail for the first time. It describes a victorious battle in 1630, when Cossack peasant rebels led by Hetman Taras Tryasylo, defeated the army of Polish noble Stanisław Koniecpolski.
Throughout his works, starting with Kobzar, Shevchenko agitated vociferously against foreign rule over Ukraine, particularly Russian and Polish.
Taras Shevchenko's unique artistic style was widely acknowledged, so his works are translated into many languages. There are evenover one hundred monuments dedicated to the poet outside of Ukraine.
The stark realities of Ukrainian village life come to light in this groundbreaking late 19th century novel which is the first to depict them as a whole. The text marks a definitive shift towards the tradition of Ukrainian realism, which showed the harshness of what those in Ukraine's villages endure to the country's wealthier literate classes.
The book was inspired by Myrnyi's travels through Poltava Oblast and conversations with its inhabitants. By depicting the fate of local bully Chipka, the author tells of challenges that Ukraine's peasantry faced, detailing both the inner components of the characters' worlds and the outside attributes of their everyday lives, like their activities, food, and clothing.
The social drama, which Myrnyi wrote and his brother Ivan Bilyk significantly improved, was not published in the Russian Empire, in which the brothers' native Poltava was located. This was the result of the Ems Ukaz of 1876, which banned the use of Ukrainian in print, performances, music, and liturgy. It would only come out four years after it was written in Geneva.
Lesya Ukrainka's Forest Song is a timeless work which generations of Ukrainians have cherished for over a century. Continuously adapted into various artistic forms, this romantic poem, rooted in Ukrainian mythology and folklore, has captivated readers for so long.
It tells the story of Mavka, a forest nymph of Ukrainian folklore, who is made a central character for the first time in Ukrainian literature.
Literary critic Rostyslav Semkiv suggested that Forest Song's timeless popularity lies in the fact that this is the only piece Lesya Ukrainka wrote in the fantasy genre, using her other literature mostly to highlight Ukrainian social problems and personal challenges.
Ukrainian artists have adapted Forest Song into various forms, including operas (even a rock opera), screenplays, and ballets. The poem's latest screen adaptation, Mavka: Forest Song, became the highest-grossing animated film in Ukrainian cinema history. The book itself has been translated into around 30 languages.
The most translated book of modern Ukrainian prose, this piece first impressed Ukrainian audiences with its bold content and candid scenes. After the Soviet Union fell, Zabuzhko's feminist text was like an open window into the world that Ukrainians were only beginning to discover.
The book is usually referred to as a prominent example of Ukrainian postmodern literature. In brief, it contains a woman's exploration of her sexuality and identity within the framework of her Ukrainian nationality.
As scholar Ester Kadlecová notes, the book is also important for symbolizing how post-Soviet literature cleanses itself from the ideological and political presence of its past and becomes itself.
Serhii Zhadan was one of the first Ukrainian authors to capture the human role & place during the war
in Ukraine's Donetsk Oblast through his prose, and he did so with remarkable success. The Orphanage appeared on numerous must-read lists, earned a spot in the BBC Book of the Year rankings for 2017, and received widespread acclaim from both critics and readers alike.
The novel tells the story of a young Ukrainian teacher who crosses the front line to rescue his nephew from an orphanage in an occupied city. However, the book is never about the war itself as such, but about the torment it imposes on people, which Zhadan depicts in an impressionistic manner.
Although the story is fictional, the author personally witnessed many of the events it describes in the war, which lends his narrative added credibility and impact in the eyes of his readers.
Of course, this list is far from complete, but serves as a starting point for understanding the Ukrainian literary tradition.
