What's a Ukrainian Canadian theme? (03/19/06)

What's a Ukrainian Canadian theme?

One of the criteria for the Kobzar Literary Award was that the work should "explore Ukrainian Canadian themes that are relevant to Canadians." Let us look at the four works nominated for the 2006 prize to see how the "Ukrainian Canadian theme" was interpreted by each author.

"Andrei and the Snow Walker" by Larry Warwaruk is a historical novel for young people, an immigrant story which takes place in 1900 and is interwoven with Scythian and Kozak (rendered in the book as "Cossack," elements of Ukrainian history. The description of the settlement of the family in Saskatchewan mixes the traditions brought over, contacts with other immigrants and the local population, particularly the Metis. Twelve-year-old Andrei adapts to the new country and learns from the Metis. Local traditions are brought into the story gradually and woven together with traditions brought over from Ukraine. In the end, it is not a magical Scythian cup that saves Andrei but the Indian spirit man Snow Walker. Andrei learns that "here there are heroes other than Cossacks." Politics does not play a role in this story which is one of survival. The Ukrainian Canadian theme is the quintessential immigrant story - one will survive and even prosper through hard work, traditions, dreams, community and a sense of history all interwoven with the new reality.

"Lesia's Dream" by Laura Langston is also a historical novel for young people, but it is based on actual historical events and politics of the time, which play an integral part in the story. Lesia's family members are illiterate peasants from Galicia who arrive in 1914 with hopes and dreams but confront a brutal reality - the terrible boat ride, the marginal and uncleared prairie land, cheating agents, nasty neighbors and, finally, discrimination against new immigrants and a government hostile toward newcomers. When the outbreak of World War I brings internment for the father and son, the family's Canadian dream turns into a Canadian nightmare. The family is continuously under attack - by nature, by the Canadian authorities, by the locals. Although possessing inner strength and resourcefulness, what 15-year-old Lesia really craves is respect and acceptance. The Ukrainian Canadian theme here deals with the achievement of this acceptance, while the story reflects the politicized reality of Canada entering a modern age, a reality which clashes with the expectations of immigrants unprepared for the country's hostile and brutal circumstances.

"Kalyna's Song" by Lisa Grekul begins in 1990. It is not a story-narrative but an account of a search for identity - not an overwhelming defining identity but a post-modern one constructed out of various aspects of one's life experiences. Seventeen-year-old Colleen doesn't speak Ukrainian but communicates with her heritage through music and traditions. Her parents and family members are "lapsed Ukrainians" who cherry pick Ukrainian traditions they still remember. Her story begins when she is 13 years old, and over the four years depicted in the book, shows her veering between being too Ukrainian for her milieu or not Ukrainian enough. She can't seem to get the balance right and doesn't fit in easily anywhere.

"Strike - The Musical," script by Danny Schur and Rick Chafe, deals with Winnipeg's General Strike of 1919. The strike is the central historical event around which the authors provide a picture of the political and social conditions of post-World War I Canada where there are numerous conflicts in progress - Ukrainians and Jews, workers and police, police and government, returning soldiers and immigrants, and the gentry among themselves. If conflict is the essence of a stage production, it's here galore. As this is a script and not a literary work, there is a simplification of history and sketched out characters, basically stereotypes, meant to keep the story on stage moving.

- Oksana Zakydalsky

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