BOOK NOTES: "The mother of all pysanka books" (04/23/06)

BOOK NOTES

"The mother of all pysanka books"

The Ukrainian Folk Pysanka by Vera Manko. Lviv: Svichado, 2004. 41 pp., 38 color plates, map. ISBN 966-8744-23-3.

by Orysia Paszczak Tracz

This is the mother of all pysanka books so far - informative, accurate and lushly illustrated. You just know that the author approached this subject with great knowledge, research and a love of pysanky and all they represent.

It joins the other - regrettably few - fine books on pysanky. These include Zenon Elyjiw's "Sixty Score of Easter Eggs" (Rochester, 1994) and "Pysanka: Icon of the Universe" by Mary Tkachuk, Marie Kishchuk and Alice Nicholaichuk (Saskatoon: Ukrainian Museum of Canada, 1977).

The pioneers in the pysanka field were Yaroslava Surmach in the 1950s, and a bit later the Procai/Perchyshyn/Luciow family of Minneapolis, with their many finely produced, detailed and very popular books on pysanky.

There have been quite a number of pysanka books over the last few decades, but not all satisfy this admittedly picky and critical pysanka nut. Some books, both in North America and Ukraine, have been produced very well, but the content leaves much to be desired. If the authors wish to add their own personal and often quite creative interpretations as to what pysanka symbolism is, there should be a clear distinction between that and the established research on the subject. If there is no such distinction, the information is misleading, but gets passed on and takes on a life of its own.

Vera Manko's first edition of "Ukrainska Narodna Pysanka" (2001) was a 46-page soft-cover publication. It was richly illustrated with archival photographs of Easter rituals, pysanka motifs and regional designs. After I read it, I wrote to the author suggesting that it be translated into English, because such a book would be very welcome in the pysanka lovers' world.

Ms. Manko and Svichado publishers had the second edition of the original translated into both English and French, adding more illustrations and 38 full-color tables of pysanky by regions. The English edition is translated by Lada Bidiak and Andriy Maslukh. The French translation is by Halyna Xotkevych. The very fine artistic layout is by Sophia Burak.

The second edition was awarded a prize at the Odesa Book Fair in 2004, and I am surprised there have not been other awards. This book, in English and French, is the kind of gift that Ukrainian Embassies and Consulates could proudly present to guests and dignitaries.

The author provides the usual information on pysanky that is found in most books, but she does it so well and in more detail. The first chapter "What Does the Pysanka Tell Us?" covers the history of the pysanka, archaeological information, the transition from prehistory Christian symbolism and rituals, the egg as a symbol of spring around the world, and the fate of the pysanka during Soviet times.

Subsequent chapters discuss folk customs and traditions, the symbolism of the pysanka, stories and legends, and how to write a pysanka - with details that even a seasoned pysanka writer can learn from and appreciate. A bibliography and explanation of the illustrated pysanky follow.

The remainder of the book is a section of 38 glorious tables of 36 to 40 color pysanky, each with an insert of a fragment of embroidery or weaving from a particular region.

Especially interesting are the pysanky from the Vinnytsia region, many appearing in print for the first time. These were obtained by pysanka writer Maryna Verkhova from the sketchbook of Countess Janowa Belina Brzozowska, who sketched them in Popeliukhy (now the village of Yavorivka) before 1917.

Information about the origin of each pysanka is as detailed as possible. The front endpaper has a map of Ukraine with the provinces and ethnographic regions delineated, and has two "holuby" (doves) - the kind hung before the icons in a Hutsul home, as described by Volodymyr Shukhevych in "Hutsulshchyna."

When I visited with Ms. Manko in Lviv two years ago, she showed me the boxes of pysanky that she had written for the new edition, often recreating the faded designs from old museum originals. At times, she had only limited access to museums across Ukraine, and had to persevere to locate particular collections - cooperation was not always forthcoming. Her determination and selflessness in pursuing her goal are amazing, because this was truly a labor of love and faith.

The design of the book is truly beautiful. On most pages the archival photographs and reproductions of old works of art and folk art form the background for the text, and enhance the overall elegance of the volume. The notes are detailed and informative. The translation by Ms. Bidiak and Mr. Maslukh is as it should be. Too often we read very stilted, quaint and even painful English translations of Ukrainian books by someone not fluent in the language.

One quibble - and this is a matter of language, not the translation: in the very first sentence, it says " it is difficult to imagine that several thousand years ago, an ancestor held a similar egg in his hands" His? Traditionally, it was the women who wrote pysanky. But because "prashchur" (ancestor) in Ukrainian covers both genders but is a masculine noun, the phrase "trymav u svoyikh rukakh" implies a male ancestor.

Ms. Manko's "The Ukrainian Folk Pysanka" is a book to enjoy, to use and to present as a special gift. May the author and the publisher continue to produce many more books on pysanky and other Ukrainian folk arts.

Svichado Publishers, which are affiliated with the Studite Monastic Order in Lviv, publish excellent material on many religious and cultural subjects (see www.svichado.com). When in Lviv, you can visit their book store at 22 Vynnychenko St. just across and up the hill from Ivan Fedorov Square.

This book is available at the usual Ukrainian book stores and online at www.yevshan.com, www.ukrainianbookstore.com, www.ukrainiangiftshop.com and www.artukraine.com/availbooks/pysankabook.htm.

| Home Page |