Fieldwork in Ukrainian Children’s Literature showcases the work of prominent scholars of children’s literature from Ukraine and the diaspora as it traces the history of books written, marketed for, and circulating among young people since the rise of Ukraine’s nationhood in the nineteenth century. This book encompasses a full range of texts and genres (e.g., fiction, nonfiction, poetry, picturebooks, graphic novels), with special attention given to the most important authors and works as defined by aesthetics (“literary excellence”), popularity, or historical and cultural significance. In its focus on ideology and historical context, the collection takes an interdisciplinary and transnational approach. It places titles and trends in broader context, considering the socio-political situation, changing taste, and the history of institutions that shape the production and reception of children’s literature. The collection addresses folklore and the beginnings of a distinct tradition of Ukrainian children’s literature produced in the nineteenth century; the role played by children’s literature in the maintenance of the Ukrainian literary tradition during the Soviet era; and the flourishing Ukrainian book market, with the appearance of numerous new genres and forms, and the growing significance of Ukrainian books around the world. The collection highlights the importance of familiarizing non-Ukrainian students and scholars of children’s literature with the richness of the country’s literary history and cultural distinctiveness. Fieldwork in Ukrainian Children’s Literature is intended primarily for scholars of children’s literature and culture, including specialists in the fields of literary studies, education, and Slavic studies.
Edited by:
Mateusz Świetlicki,
Anastasia Ulanowicz
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 229mm,
Width: 152mm,
Weight: 710g
ISBN: 9781032976495
ISBN 10: 1032976497
Series: Children's Literature and Culture
Pages: 274
Publication Date: 23 March 2025
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Further / Higher Education
,
Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Foreword: Toward the World (Tamara Hundorova) Introduction to Ukrainian Children’s Literature (Mateusz Świetlicki and Anastasia Ulanowicz) PART I - The Sources of Ukrainian Children’s Literature 1. Fairy Fales, Folk Traditions, and the Formation of Ukrainian National Identity (Katarzyna Jakubowska-Krawczyk) 2. Classics for Children and Crossovers into Children’s Literature: Taras Shevchenko, Ivan Franko, and Lesia Ukrainka (Mateusz Świetlicki and Anastasia Ulanowicz) PART II - Ukrainian Children’s Literature in the Century of Repressions 3. Moms at Factories: Ukrainian Children’s Literature of the 1920s and 1930s (Snizhana Zhygun) 4. Russophone Ukrainian Children’s Literature: To the Roots of the Phenomenon (Anna Boginskaya) 5. Children of Genocide and War: Depictions of Post-War Soviet Ukrainian Childhood in the Works of Vsevolod Nestaiko and Hryhir Tiutiunnyk (Mateusz Świetlicki) 6. “What is Your Identity?”: Ukrainian Idea in Diasporic Children’s Literature (Maryna Vardanian) PART III - The Present and Future of Ukrainian Literature for Young People 7. Contemporary Ukrainian Children’s Poetry and Prose: An Overview (Tetiana Kachak and Tetyana Blyznyuk) 8. The Coming of Age of Ukrainian Young Adult Literature After 1991 (Halyna Pavlyshyn) 9. Ukraine’s Cultural Ambassadors: Contemporary Ukrainian Picturebooks (Anastasia Ulanowicz) 10. Memories of the Future: Ukrainian Children’s Literature about War (Aliona Yarova and Björn Sundmark) Afterword: Evelyn Arizpe
Mateusz Świetlicki is an associate professor at the University of Wrocław’s Institute of English Studies (Poland). His most recent book, Next-Generation Memory and Ukrainian Canadian Children’s Historical Fiction: The Seeds of Memory (Routledge, 2023), examines the transnational entanglements of Canada and Ukraine. Anastasia Ulanowicz is an associate professor of children’s literature at the University of Florida (USA). She is the author of Second-Generation Memory and Contemporary Children’s Literature (Routledge, 2013), which received the Children’s Literature Association Book Award in 2015.
Reviews for Fieldwork in Ukrainian Children’s Literature
""Fieldwork in Ukrainian Children’s Literature offers a timely and welcome introduction to Ukrainian children’s literature and informatively brings global audiences into its subject, while also offering valuable analysis and original studies of a wide variety of texts for experts in relevant regions and topics that will have lasting import in the field. From introductory chapters that situate the reader in Ukrainian history, culture, and folk tales to sensitive studies of Ukrainian books for young readers in the present day and in war time, Fieldwork in Ukrainian Children’s Literature makes a valuable and lasting contribution to multiple fields, including Slavic studies and children’s literature research."" --Sara Pankenier Weld, University of California, Santa Barbara ""The first English-language companion to Ukrainian children’s literature will familiarize global audiences with its rich history, from folklore roots to award-winning international bestsellers."" --Svetlana Efimova, Assistant Professor of Slavic Literatures and Media Studies, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
