Books from Ukraine
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Anthologies (non-poetry)2021Not Only Kobzar. The Anthology of Ukrainian literature. 1792–1883 (in two books)
by Mykhailo Nazarenko
Ukrainian literature of the 19th century was far more exciting and diverse than one might imagine. Mykhailo Nazarenko's anthology contains one hundred and fifty texts that are not known or very little known to the modern reader (some of them are reprinted for the first time after 150 years of oblivion). These texts help to understand Ukrainian literary movement in a wider context. The compilation starts with the "The Song of the Black Sea Army" by Anton Golovaty. This novel precedes the famous "Aeneid" and marks the beginning of the printed literature "in the contemporary Ukrainian language". "It is not time..." by Ivan Franko is the last one in the compilation and describes further evolution of the independent Ukrainian literary word. The compilation also contains fifty essays about each of the authors: why did they write in a particular that way and about what? Why did some turn out to be forgotten, while others are remembered for their works?
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Literature & Literary Studies1997Toward a History of Ukrainian literature
by George G. Grabowicz
The work of the famous American-Ukrainian Slavologist and Ukrainian scholar Hryhoriy Hrabovych interprets the history of Ukrainian literature in several main ways: theoretical, comparative, immanent and historiographical. The book includes his studies, essays, and polemics written over the years. They were mainly produced in times of a sharp confrontation between official Soviet and Western approaches to literary studies. Today, after Ukraine gained its independence, there is an urgent need for a thorough reassessment of various scientific traditions and paradigms as well as a review of the canon of Ukrainian literature, its histography and methodology. The vast majority of these works were published in English or in sources unavailable for the Ukrainian reader, including specialist researchers. This edition can significantly reorient our understanding of the history of Ukrainian literature and enable a rethinking of Ukrainian cultural and intellectual processes.
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Photography & photographs2021THE INDEPENDENT. 100 Most Outstanding Photos of Modern Ukraine
by Mstyslav Chernov
THE INDEPENDENT is a unique collection of modern Ukrainian photography reflecting on political, cultural, and sport events, the tragedies, hopes, pride and joy of Ukraine. The photographs are taken by professional artists and documentalists. The book includes the previously unpublished images of the known Ukrainian photographers and some of those images are published exclusively for The Independent project. The book draws attention to the high professional level of the modern Ukrainian documentary makers and photographers. Despite risks and obstacles, they tirelessly continue to record history every day. This edition will be of interest to wide audiences both in Ukraine and abroad.
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Biography: general2020Shevchenko. Modern biography
by Stanislav Rosovetskyi
When reading this book, Taras Shevchenko's admirers will sincerely empathise with the poet, make unexpected biographical discoveries and enjoy his art and his quirky sense of humour. Non-fans, whose dislike for the Ukrainian genius stems from the Soviet rendering which still dominates the school curricula, have a chance to see a different Shevchenko. The book shows the great poet in situations that destroy his stereotypical image that was cultivated over the years. Last but not least, a thoughtful reader will be able to see that Russia in the times of Nikolas I is not too different from today's Russia and that the challenges Ukrainians faced in the mid-19th century repeat in the 21st century.
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Humanities & Social Sciences2016300 Years of Solitude: Ukrainian Donbas in Search of Senses and the Roots
by Stanislav Kulchytsky, Larysa Yakubova
In recent years, Donbas has been at the epicenter of a heated public discussion. This book is a comprehensive study of the historical experience of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. It highlights several problems of rapid social and economic growth and painful stagnation, powerful migration processes and the multi-ethnic population structure and, as a result, an unstructured identity and short historical memory. The authors explore the origins of the Soviet mythologemes of the "people of Donbas”, “All-Union stokehold”, “melting pot”, which have been influencing the formation of the consciousness of the region’s population and the collective image of the Ukrainian Donbas for a long time. This book presents a detailed analysis of the events of the Russian-Ukrainian war, the factors that preceded the creation of quasi-states, as well as possible ways and tools to overcome the social and cultural consequences of the military conflict.
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Humanities & Social Sciences2021The Frontline: Essays on Ukraine's Past and Present
by Serhii Plokhy
The Frontline presents a selection of essays drawn together for the first time to form a companion volume to Plokhy’s The Gates of Europe and Chernobyl. Here he expands upon his analysis in earlier works of key events in Ukrainian history, including Ukraine’s complex relations with Russia and the West, the burden of tragedies such as the Holodomor and World War II, the impact of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, and Ukraine’s contribution to the collapse of the Soviet Union. Juxtaposing Ukraine’s history to the contemporary politics of memory, this volume provides a multidimensional image of a country that continues to make headlines around the world. Eloquent in style and comprehensive in approach, the essays collected here reveal the roots of the ongoing political, cultural, and military conflict in Ukraine, the largest country in Europe.
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True stories2019Chaplains. In service of God and Ukraine
by Kovtunovych Tetiana, Pryvalko Tetiana
The book contains the memories of military chaplains of various denominations who, since the beginning of the war in the east of Ukraine, performed pastoral care among Ukrainian soldiers.
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Humanities & Social Sciences2022Tempting Fate, Hardening the Will: Ukraine and Ukrainians in the XX - Early XXI Century. In Three Books
by Larysa Yakubova (project coordinator)
The transformation of a mental Ukraine into a real Ukraine, people - into a nation, a territory – into a state is a semantic axis of this trilogy. Book 1. Ukraine and Ukrainians in 1917-1939 The first book is devoted to the interwar period – a key stage of ethnic modernization and mobilization of Ukrainians, the culmination of the Ukrainian Revolution, and the battle for Ukraine in the context of the First World War. Book 2. Between World War II and the Cold War: Wars in the Destiny of Ukraine The second book tells about Ukrainians in the Second World War, after which the Ukrainian lands were united within one state, and in the Cold War, which made possible the sovereignty of Ukraine. Book 3. 30 Years of Independence: Challenges, Trials, Answers The third book is dedicated to the period of Ukrainian Independence and summarizes the thirty years of Ukrainian post-totalitarian transit. Contradictions of internal development, geopolitical challenges, three modern Ukrainian revolutions, and the Russian-Ukrainian war are the focus of understanding the path of Ukraine and Ukrainians in the global world.
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Literature & Literary Studies2021The vocabulary of a nationalist and other essays
by Mykola Riabchuk
This collection of opinion journalism is a comprehensive and far-sighted look at the past, present, and future of Ukraine in political and cultural aspects. The author meticulously describes the phenomena of Ukrainian realities, in particular, analyzes the Ukrainian Maidans (2004 and 2013), examines the crisis of the Ukrainian elite, Ukrainians’ identity crisis by nationality or citizenship, and also describes in details the USSR iron curtain of the 20th century in the sphere of culture and literature. Most of these essays were published in periodicals, mainly in English and Ukrainian, sometimes in Polish and German, and occasionally in such languages as Farsi, Turkish, and Catalan. The author prepared all Ukrainian versions with the hope of a synergistic effect of personal experiences gathered under one cover and hoping to awaken from the Soviet delusional dream that has not yet dissappered.
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Literature: history & criticism2020Rebels: New woman and modern nation
by Vira Aheieva, Iryna Borysiuk, Oksana Pashko, Olena Peleshenko, Olga Poliukhovych, Oksana Schur
This book is about true rebels: late 19th and early 20th century Ukrainian female writers. They find their own voices in literature and start to defend theis own space, both private and public. 12 stories of life and work of Marko Vovchok, Lesia Ukrainka, Olha Kobylianska, Iryna Vilde, Sophia Yablonska and others.
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Literature & Literary StudiesDecember 2009Intertextuality in modern Arabic literature since 1967
by Luc Deheuvels, Mike Thompson, Barbara Michalak-Pikulska, Paul Starkey
This volume of essays is the first to be dedicated to the subject of intertextuality in modern Arabic literature. Beginning with a general overview of the topic by Roger Allen, it brings together essays on a range of writers from all parts of the Arab world, including, among others, Edwar al-Kharrat, Sa'd Allah Wannus, Najib Mahfuz, Rabi' Jabir, Salim Matar and the recently deceased Sudanese writer al-Tayyib Salih, whose seminal work Season of Migration to the North heralded a new phase in the modern Arabic literary tradition. The volume, which also includes two essays on aspects of intertextuality in Gulf literature, also discusses transformations of popular medieval literature such as the Alf Layla wa-Layla (the Thousand and One Nights) in modern Arabic literature. ;
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Literature & Literary Studies2017Anthology of Ukrainian Poetry of the Twentieth Century. From Tychyna to Zhadan
by Anthology
The twentieth century was a time for the brightest and daring ways of expressing themselves in creativity. It was a time to experiment with form and content, and the historical revolution was reflected in the texts of writers and poets. How Ukrainian poets saw this time and how they felt will be clearly shown by the Anthology of Ukrainian Poetry of the Twentieth Century. From Tychyna to Zhadan. Thanks to this book, the reader will find the already known works by Dmytro Pavlychko, Vasyl‘ Stus, Lina Kostenko, and get acquainted with the work of those who became famous at the end of the century — Yuriy Izdryk, Oleksiy Zhupanskiy, Serhiy Zhadan, Galyna Kruk. You may also meet and come to love other talented names. Ivan Malkovych gathered everyone under one cover and became the compiler of this collection himself, a poet, publisher and owner of the publishing house "A-ba-ba-ha-la-ma-ha".
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Literature: history & criticism2005The PostChornobyl Library: Ukrainian Postmodernism of the 1990s
by Tamara Hundorova
Having exploded on the margins of Europe, Chornobyl marked the end of the Soviet Union and tied the era of postmodernism in Western Europe with nuclear consciousness. The Post-Chornobyl Library in Tamara Hundorova’s book becomes a metaphor of a new Ukrainian literature of the 1990s, which emerges out of the Chornobyl nuclear trauma of the 26th of April, 1986. Ukrainian postmodernism turns into a writing of trauma and reflects the collisions of the post-Soviet time as well as the processes of decolonization of the national culture. A carnivalization of the apocalypse is the main paradigm of the post-Chornobyl text, which appeals to “homelessness” and the repetition of “the end of histories.” Ironic language game, polymorphism of characters, taboo breaking, and filling in the gaps of national culture testify to the fact that the Ukrainians were liberating themselves from the totalitarian past and entering the society of the spectacle. Along this way, the post-Chornobyl character turns into an ironist, meets with the Other, experiences a split of his or her self, and witnesses a shift of geo-cultural landscapes.
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Humanities & Social Sciences2020The Rules of Ukrainian Cooking
by Eugenia Kuznetsova
The Rules of Ukrainian Cooking (Cook in Sorrow) is a guide to Ukrainian cuisine written in an entertaining style of ironic ethnography. It is structured into thirty “recipes”, each exploring one aspect of the Ukrainian culinary tradition. From cooking Borsch (which is never perfect) to brewing homemade wine and hosting guests, the book provides an entertaining account of probably the most cherished aspect of Ukrainian culture. The Ultimate Guide to Ukrainian Cooking puts Ukrainian dishes in social context, offering readers insights about complicated relationship of Ukrainians with cooking, eating, their relatives and even uncovers true love to famous Kherson tomatoes, now under the Russian occupation. The book is beautifully designed and illustrated by a cohort of Ukrainian artists, who represent some of the most prominent names in Ukrainian contemporary book design.
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Literature & Literary StudiesApril 2021Positive emotions in early modern literature and culture
by Cora Fox, Bradley J. Irish, Cassie M. Miura
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History of Art / Art & Design Styles2020Embroidery in the clothes of outstanding Ukrainians
by Tetyna Zez
The book includes the stories of extraordinary Ukrainians who made a significant personal contribution to the development of Ukrainian literature, theater, and poetry. Among the characters of the book are Lesya Ukrainka, Ivan Franko, Taras Shevchenko, Maria Zankovetska, Olena Pchilka, Olena Skoropadska, Maksym Rylskyi, Mykhailo Starytskyi. But we do not write about the gossip around them. We popularize the art of Ukrainian embroidery and highlight the private fragments of the lives of prominent Ukrainians that are little known to the general public. The book is organized in the form of a folder, which contains postcards-stories about the figure and a memorial item decorated with Ukrainian embroidery. The publication is the result of the cooperation of a team of like-minded people - museologists, embroiderers, scientists, clothing makers and publishers, who implemented a project aimed at popularizing the art of Ukrainian embroidery and highlighting fragments of the lives of prominent Ukrainians that are little known to the general public. Each postcard of the collection introduces us to the biography of a prominent person and the features of the domestic culture of that time through the presentation of a certain memorial item, which is decorated with Ukrainian embroidery. But the authors go further and present products sewn and embroidered by modern craftsmen, decorated with the same embroidery, as well as special schemes are presented, according to which everyone can reproduce both simple and complex ornaments from museum monuments in the material. The book will be interesting for everyone who is interested in Ukrainian ethnoculture, clothing manufacturing specialists, and embroiderers.
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Graphic novels: true stories & non-fiction2021A Brief History of Ukrainian Feminism. Graphic novel
by Mykola Yabchenko
Feminism is a living phenomenon, but its history can and should be recorded. A number of serious works on the history of the women's movement and feminism have been published in Ukraine, but it is only recently that the history of Ukrainian feminism appeared in the form of a graphic novel. This book is our humble attempt to try and cover the vast history of Ukrainian feminism on a moderate number of pages. We have mentioned many outstanding personalities, but we have not mentioned even more names, for which we immediately apologise - after all, a lot has happened in 150 years and it’s hard to fit all into a relatively small graphic novel. This book may be of interest to those who have only recently become interested in feminism, as it is a brief introduction to the history of Ukrainian feminism. More experienced readers will be delighted to notice some additional details and stories to what they already know.
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History of art & design styles: from c 1900 -2021Art Nouveau. The Ukrainian Art Styles of 20th century
by Iryna Mahdysh
The twentieth century saw an outbreak of new styles in world art, among which Art Nouveau was the first chronologically. Ukraine absorbed all-new European creative ideas, filling them with Ukrainian meanings and forms. For those unfamiliar with Ukrainian art, this book will be a handy and attractive starting entry point to the world of Ukrainian visual culture. Art experts will be able to look at their field from a new angle: to see images of rare works of Ukrainian art nouveau from regional museums and trace the links between national and world trends in the art of the twentieth century.
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Humanities & Social Sciences2020I Will Mix Your Blood With Coal. Understanding Ukrainian East
by Oleksandr Mykhed
In 2014, the Russian army, with support from local militants, had occupied parts of Ukraine’s two easternmost regions, the regions that were the beating industrial heart of the socialist utopia in the Soviet era, and where coal extraction has exhausted both the human population and the natural resources. The regions have suffered from the post-Soviet chaos for decades. In the late 2016, the author set out on a research trip to the East to answer the common questions of those who’ve never been to the region. He takes his readers on a complicated, painful and hopeful trip across the Ukrainian East, guiding them through conversations with the locals, archival research, and conversations with prominent cultural fi gures like writer Serhij Zhadan or released after 700 days of terrorist captivity historian Ihor Kozlovskyi that were born in the region. The readers will meet the miners, the Belgian and British investors who founded the eastern cities, the priceless coal, events of the First and Second World War, the bloody Soviet history, the activists who are now working to improve the country, and sweet memories of the lost paradise.
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The Arts2019ZNAK. Ukrainian Trademarks 1960—1980
by U, N, A collective
Znak. Ukrainian Trademarks 1960—1980 is research by U, N, A collective (Uliana Bychenkova, Nika Kudinova, Aliona Solomadina) on the history of Ukrainian graphic design, in particular, on the area of corporate identity during the period of Thaw, Stagnation, and Perestroyka. Visual and textual narratives coexist in the book, as this type of material needs not only visual but also textual support. They address the given subject in the wider chronological order: from the 20th century avant-garde to the present. Most importantly, the publication focuses on the Kharkiv school of industrial graphics and the accomplishments of Volodymyr Pobiedin. The publication displays archive materials, identifies the names, describes the processes and highlights the influences in Ukrainian graphic design in the local and global contexts.
