“Ukrainian Epic and Historical Song: Folklore in Context,” by Natalie Kononenko. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2019. 330 pp. ISBN: 978-1-4875-0263-8 (hardcover) $42.
Ukrainian epics, or dumy, were first recorded from blind minstrels in the nineteenth century, yet they reflect events dating back to as early as the 1300s. “Ukrainian Epic and Historical Song” provides new translations in contemporary English of these songs of family strife, war and human dignity. It also explains the historical events celebrated in epic and other historical songs: fierce battles, rebellion against tyranny, the struggles of captivity and the joys of escape from slavery.
Natalie Kononenko is a professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Cultural Studies at the University of Alberta and holds the Kule Chair in Ukrainian Ethnography.