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A Ukrainian fairy tale, "Kazka" (Ukrainian: казка), is a fairy tale from Ukraine. The plural of казка is казки (kazky). In times of oral tradition, they were used to transmit knowledge and history.[1]
A Ukrainian fairy tale, "Kazka" (Ukrainian: казка), is a fairy tale from Ukraine. The plural of казка is казки (kazky). In times of oral tradition, they were used to transmit knowledge and history.[1]
Ukrainian folk literature is vast.[2][3] Many Ukrainian fairy tales feature forests and grassy plains, with people working as farmers or hunters.[1] Many Ukrainian fairy tales feature animals.[4] There are often parallels with other regional traditions such as Russia, Turkey, and Poland.[5] One purpose of Ukrainian fairy tales was to teach children about dangers, and also the importance of growing crops for survival the following year.[1][4] Though teaching children was an important purpose of Ukrainian fairy tales, Ukrainian fairy tales were not exclusively for children.[6][7]
Characters in Ukrainian fairy tales often feature warriors, princes, and peasants.[5] Common features of narrative transition in Ukrainian kazky include mediators (objects, actions, notions, events, or conditions), magic helpers (objects, things, or supernatural beings), and triggers (signs or prohibitions).[6] These elements perform a linking function in the narrative and provide motivation for the main character to move from one setting to another.[6]
Professor of Folklore at the University of Alberta, Natalie Kononenko writes that while historically often under occupation of foreign powers, folklore was one of the few means of cultural expression allowed to Ukrainian authors and scholars.[8]
When eastern Ukraine was under the rule of the Russian Empire, activities thought to promote feelings of Ukrainian nationalism or pride were banned, but folklore, seen as the province of a rural, ignorant people, was thought to be harmless.[8] Because folklore was considered to advance a perception that Ukraine (called “Little Russia” by the Russian Empire) was a backward, border place, research and study of Ukrainian folklore was even considered beneficial for the subjugation of Ukrainians.[8] It is in part due to this permissive view on Ukrainian folklore that scholarly work on Ukrainian folklore from the 1800s is available today.[8]
Under the hierarchy of the Russian Empire, Russia considered itself “Great Russia”, Belarus “White Russia”, and Ukraine to be “Little Russia”.[8] As a result of this enforced hierarchy under the Russian Empire, much Ukrainian folklore was not initially published as Ukrainian folklore, but instead labeled as Russian folklore.[8] Thus, some folklore labeled as Russian folklore was subsumed Ukrainian folklore along with folklore from Belarus.[4] When Ukrainian folklore has been labeled as Russian, Ukrainian folk tales can be discerned from Russian folklore from the language used, and often with indications of a place where the folk tale was collected.[4] While a similar situation existed in western Ukraine under control of Austro-Hungary, there was less attempt to assimilate Ukrainian people and culture into a larger dominant political group.[8][9]
Under Soviet Union rule encompassing both east and west Ukraine, folklore was treated more suspiciously by authorities.[9] The Soviet government realized the effectiveness of folklore and sought to replace traditional folklore with new Soviet folklore that promoted principles the Soviet government considered desirable such as submissiveness and collectivism.[9][10] Thus, Soviet rule censored older Ukrainian folklore and tales of aspects deemed threatening such as references to religion, or ideas which might encourage thoughts of Ukrainian pride or nationalism, including references particularly Ukrainian such as pysanky.[9]
Some Ukrainian fairy tales have been featured on stamps of Ukrposhta, the national postal service of Ukraine.[32] Many have been retold in Ukrainian animation.[33] The Ukrainian pop band, Kazka, takes its name from the Ukrainian word for fairy tale.[34] Some fairy tale characters have been created in sculpture, such as the statue of Ivasyk-Telesyk in Lviv, Ukraine's Stryiskyi Park.[35]
