UWP: Khanenko-Friesen: Ukrainian Otherlands pagei Ukrainian Otherlands UWP: Khanenko-Friesen: Ukrainian Otherlands pageii FOLKLORE STUDIES IN A MULTICULTURAL WORLD The Folklore Studies in a Multicultural World series is a collaborative venture of the University of Illinois Press, the University Press of Mississippi, the University of Wisconsin Press, and the American Folklore Society, made possible by a generous grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The series emphasizes the interdisciplinary and international nature of current folklore scholarship, documenting connections between communities and their cultural production. Series volumes highlight aspects of folklore studies such as world folk cultures, folk art and music, foodways, dance, African American and ethnic studies, gender and queer studies, and popular culture. UWP: Khanenko-Friesen: Ukrainian Otherlands pageiii Ukrainian Otherlands Diaspora, Homeland, and Folk Imagination in the Twentieth Century Natalia Khanenko-Friesen The University of Wisconsin Press UWP: Khanenko-Friesen: Ukrainian Otherlands pageiv Publication of this volume has been made possible, in part, through support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The University of Wisconsin Press 1930 Monroe Street, 3rd Floor Madison, Wisconsin 53711-2059 uwpress.wisc.edu 3 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden London WC2E 8LU, United Kingdom eurospanbookstore.com Copyright © 2015 The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System All rights reserved. Except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles and reviews, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any format or by any means—digital, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise— or conveyed via the Internet or a website without written permission of the University of Wisconsin Press. Rights inquiries should be directed to [email protected]. Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Khanenko-Friesen, Natalia, author. Ukrainian otherlands: diaspora, homeland, and folk imagination in the twentieth century / Natalia Khanenko-Friesen. pages cm — (Folklore studies in a multicultural world) ISBN 978-0-299-30344-0 (pbk.: alk. paper) ISBN 978-0-299-30343-3 (e-book) 1. Ukrainian diaspora. 2. Ukrainians—Ethnic identity. 3. Ukrainians—Canada—Ethnic identity. 4. Ukrainians—Canada—Folklore. I. Title. II. Series: Folklore studies in a multicultural world. DK508.44.K49 2015 909’.0491791082—dc23 2014040214 UWP: Khanenko-Friesen: Ukrainian Otherlands pagev To Tim and Adrian UWP: Khanenko-Friesen: Ukrainian Otherlands pagevi blank UWP: Khanenko-Friesen: Ukrainian Otherlands pagevii Contents List of Illustrations ix Preface xi Introduction: Homeland-Diaspora Imaginations and the Roots of Their Mutual Attraction 3 1 Separation: Songs of Departure 23 2 Mediating Absence in Homeland 45 3 Constructing Longing in Diaspora 73 4 Enveloping Distance 99 5 Imagining Kinship in Diaspora 127 6 Homecoming 155 7 Into the Twenty-First Century 185 Epilogue: The Folk Connection 213 Notes 221 Index 253 vii UWP: Khanenko-Friesen: Ukrainian Otherlands pageviii blank UWP: Khanenko-Friesen: Ukrainian Otherlands pageix Illustrations Figure 0.1. Natalka Husar, Grotto 2 Figure 1.1. William Kurelek, The Ukrainian Pioneer, No. 2 24 Figure 1.2. Ocean liner SS Cap Polonio enters the docks 38 Figure 2.1. Maryntsiunia Smal’ looks at photos and letters 44 Figure 2.2. The village of Hrytsevolia 49 Figure 2.3. Bidding farewell to the deceased relative, village of Hrytsevolia 65 Figure 2.4. The “Canadian House” built in the 1930s in the village of Hrytsevolia 70 Figure 3.1. The front cover of Kalendar Al’manakh Novoho Shliakhu 72 Figure 3.2. The front cover of Kalendar Al’manakh Novoho Shliakhu 85 Figure 3.3. Mural in the National Hall of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Parish of St. Peter and Paul 88 Figure 4.1. Personal letter from Ukraine 98 Figure 4.2. Vuiko Shtif writing a letter to his wife 107 Figure 4.3. Wakarchuk correspondence by year and gender of writers 114 Figure 4.4. Letter from Stefan Wakarchuk to Wasyl Wakarchuk 117 Figure 5.1. The front cover of the Bayda family history book 126 Figure 5.2. Number of Ukrainian Canadian family history books by decade 136 Figure 5.3. The cover of Eleniak Family Tree 143 Figure 6.1. Traditional Ukrainian bread and salt welcome 154 Figure 6.2. Homecoming to Ukraine, first moments, Boryspil Airport 159 Figure 6.3. The village gathers to meet the overseas relative 171 Figure 6.4. Olha Velychko welcomes Vasyl’ Pylypiw 176 Figure 6.5. Petro Krawchuk is welcomed to Nebyliw during the official homecoming tour 179 ix UWP: Khanenko-Friesen: Ukrainian Otherlands pagex x Illustrations Figure 6.6. Traditional bread and salt welcome 180 Figure 6.7. Boxes containing soil from the Canadian graves of Vasyl’ Eleniak and Ivan Pylypiw 181 Figure 7.1. Ukrainian poet Oksana Sikora-Hayda getting ready for a public dance performance 184 Figure 7.2. Labor migration and creative writing publications by year 193 Figure 7.3. Labor migration and creative writing publications by region within Ukraine 194 Figure 7.4. Ukrainian poet Nadia Baranovs’ka and the author 201 Figure 7.5. Ukrainian poet Iryna Yamborak at a community event 206 Figure 8.1. Nesting storks in the garden of labor emigrants 212 Figure 8.2. Watching a video letter from family members who emigrated to New York State 215 UWP: Khanenko-Friesen: Ukrainian Otherlands pagexi Preface Many people have been my inspiration and the reason why this book was written. With some, I spent years conversing about the meanings of diaspora and home and the sources of their longing for each other. With others, I contem- plated the challenges of stitching together the torn mesh of transatlantic family relations. Some people I only met briefly, but those fleeting encounters proved to be memorable and crucial for my understanding of diaspora-homeland encounters. Fleeting or prolonged, these engagements helped me to craft the arguments presented in this book, and I find myself in debt to each individual for steering me, most often unknowingly, toward better arguments. I also express my gratitude to all the individuals mentioned in the book, either under their real names or pseudonyms, who shared with me their experiences of departure and separation from and longing for their “other” kin in faraway places. Several Ukrainian Canadian academics from the University of Alberta were also my inspiration in this work. Bohdan Medwidsky, Andriy Nahachewsky, and Frances Swyripa of the University of Alberta introduced me to the field of Ukrainian Canadian studies in ways more than just academic. Bohdan, I hope this book could offer further answers to that poignant question of what it feels like to live in more than one world. Andriy and Frances, thank you for sharing with me your knowledge of and love for the prairies, a feeling I now share with you. My words of gratitude also go to those who assisted me in my fieldwork in practical terms, welcomed me into their communities, let me stay in their homes, and made sure I had access to the right people and the right resources while conducting my research. The Bakus’ko family in Hrytsevolia, Ukraine, put up with me, a stranger in their home, during my two prolonged stays in their house and made me feel like a part of their family. Brenda Prins, Mary Shelast, Marlyn Mandiuk, and Iryna and Bogdan Pyvovarchuk of Mundare, xi UWP: Khanenko-Friesen: Ukrainian Otherlands pagexii xii Preface Alberta, Canada, over the course of four years kept taking me into their homes so I could do my work in town without having to commute back to the city or worry about driving back in dangerous conditions in winter. In Edmonton, over the years, Mary and Fred Paranchych became my Canadian family, ac- commodating me on my return trips to the city for various interviews and ar- chival work. Mary and Fred, thank you for letting me into your life. Olena Husar, head of the Department of the Ukrainian Language at Ternopil National Pedagogical University, generously re-created the feel of home for me when I worked in her city several summers in a row coordinating the study abroad program for Canadian students and pursuing my research at the same time. Thanks to Olena, I met many people in Ukraine who directly contributed to my book. Marta Madych welcomed me to her home on my many trips to L’viv to conduct further interviews for this project. Iryna Hlibovych of Nebyliw, who hosted me in her home having only just met me at the bus stop when I arrived for the first time, was indispensable to my exploration of Nebyliw’s connections to Canada. On several occasions Bohdan and Lida Struk of Burshtyn, Ukraine, hosted me and took me around their region, including the village of Bili Oslavy so I could conduct further interviews. In the United States, my Harvard col- league Vera Andrushkiv nearly adopted me into her family over the course of several summers that we taught together in the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute. I spent many days in Vera’s summer home in the Catskill Mountains in upstate New York, where I had the privilege to experience firsthand the inti- mate workings of some established Ukrainian American families and their networks. The stories of homecoming you shared with me, Vera, made me appreciate the complexity of these trips in a new light and prompted me to explore this topic further. In Lisbon, Portugal, Teresa Carvalho was keen to introduce me to several Ukrainian migrants working in her father’s estate while also letting me stay in her home in the city. Pavlo Sadokha, Lidia Hall, Nadia Baranovs’ka, and Yuriy Unhurian of Lisbon were most helpful guides and guardians in my explorations of Ukrainian culture of Portugal.