Maryna HRYMYCH: I love the Ukrainian countryside!

Maryna Hrymych’s most recognizable novels are Do You Hear, Margo?, St. Bartholomew’s Night, An Egoist, Red Poppies Covered with Dew..., Frida, and St. Magdalene’s Sisters, while the most recent are Second Life and White Owl Island. She is a publisher, too, having established the Duliby publishing house in 2004. Moreover, she has Candidate of Science in philology and Doctor of Science in History degrees. She has taught at the Kyiv National Taras Shevchenko University. Since 2006, she serves as the spouse of Ukraine’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Canada Ihor Ostash.

Her works, and diverse interests indicate that Maryna is a versatile woman, her responses to challenges are fast and creative, and she obviously has a taste for life. This impression was confirmed when we met in her spacious Kyiv apartment over a Canadian-style meal of pancakes with maple syrup, dried cranberries and steaming hot coffee.

Maryna, how do you usually feel on returning from Canada to Ukraine?

“I have met Ukrainians in Canada who told me that after a five-year stay there, they experienced a culture shock upon returning to Ukraine. I am always pleased to come home, though. Obviously, you need a day or two to get used to the situation and the people. In Canada, for example, people everywhere make way for you, they say ‘sorry’ and ‘thank you’ repeatedly... Here it is a bit different.

“I should say that Ukrainians have many features that are absent in Canadians. The latter are more relaxed in everyday situations, and in their lives in general, while we, I think, still harbor Soviet era fears. The older generation, or at least those who spoke to me, are constantly afraid that their conversations are eavesdropped on. I am also worried that we are too aggressive. The word ‘aggressive’ in North American English has two meanings, the first one being ‘a person who sets goals for himself and reaches them.’ The second one is ‘a person who is constantly tense and ill-mannered.’ In Ukraine, we constantly need to fight, for things small and great alike. Our former compatriots admit that after a long stay overseas they would not survive here, because they have already lost the instinct to fight for survival.”

From your novels it appears that you like Ukrainians, even when criticizing them. This is especially true of the elderly, who, as the saying goes, are founts of genuine life wisdom, despite not even having finished secondary school.

“I like people. That’s why I became an ethnologist. Most of my students who went on expeditions with me grew up in cities, and, as it happens to urban children, they were skeptical of rural residents. But when they got to know them better, having seen that innate intelligence and wisdom, they changed their minds. My paternal ancestors were high-born nobles, while the maternal ones were sturdy peasants. I never held country people in contempt. Quite the opposite, they are interesting for me. It’s nice that they also did not ever perceive me as a ‘that urbanite.’ That is, our communication took place without any prejudices. Perhaps, confidence-building prowess is my innate ability, and I appreciate it.”

Since Ukraine has no culture institutions abroad, the embassies, probably, bear a double burden...

“We, my husband and I, were lucky, since a numerous and organized Ukrainian diaspora lives in Canada. However, as I said before, it is very diverse. We think they are Ukrainians, while in fact, they are Canadians who, because of their ancestry, are sympathetic toward Ukraine. They have even created their own subculture. Our first steps were intended to organize some more purely Ukrainian events for them. Only later we realized that Ukrainian-Canadian events would be far more interesting for them. For example, this year marks 120 years of Ukrainian settlement in Canada, and we are preparing a large-scale project for the anniversary. As you know, our former compatriots came by ship across the ocean to Halifax, and then they traveled for many, many days by train across almost the whole country to Winnipeg, or sometimes as far as Edmonton. In June the ambassador wants to ride the same route, stopping in the places where Ukrainian emigrants did. There will be not just stops, but meetings with communities living there. This will be an important event!

“It should be noted that the diaspora, with its influential presence in social and political life, has done much to promote Ukraine. As a result, for example, all provinces of Canada unanimously voted to recognize the Ukrainian Famine of 1932-33 as genocide.”

How does the diaspora see the current situation in Ukraine, where the change of government has brought significant changes, particularly to the cultural policies? The abovementioned issue of the Great Famine, which has united Ukrainians all over the world, is rejected by many people from pro-government circles, or supported only pro forma.

“The Ukrainian diaspora in Canada numbers 1.2 million people, but not all of them are active in community life. Activists told me about the following transformation. Before Ukraine’s independence, they tried to keep their organizations within the Ukrainian milieu (the Plast, Ukrainian scouts, and SUM, Ukrainian Youth Union, and various associations, bilingual schools...), since they believed that all this was disappearing in the ancestral homeland. Immediately after 1991, their Canadian-centered activities gradually began to die away, as people saw that the language had survived the Soviet rule, culture had developed to some extent (though it was not, of course, how they would have liked it). The question arose: what to do next? Finally, targeted efforts were made: they gave money, shared experiences... Later on cooperation was not close: this was due to the fact that the diaspora grew in the free world, while we were in a totalitarian country (different values, mental features...). Then the diaspora again returned to its inner life and very soon realized that the community was getting older, as fewer young people were coming to the meetings, participating in the events ... Suddenly a new issue arose — it was recognition of the Ukrainian Famine of 1932-33 as genocide, and this issue united Ukrainians in Ukraine and beyond. For example, in Canada different generations rallied around it. Even the fourth wave of emigration, which often misunderstands and is misunderstood by the first and second waves, joined the battle. Even those who said, ‘they say, my grandmother / grandfather or great-grandmother / great-grandfather was Ukrainian, but all that they left me is a habit of making dumplings on Christmas Eve, and perhaps sending children to learn Ukrainian folk dances,’ even they rallied around it. Most began to ask their friends of other ethnicities to join this movement. It went on until our parliament recognized the tragedy as genocide, and both houses of the Parliament of Canada did likewise.

“With the change in our government, and the beginning of changes in the cultural policies, all the people there have come to a standstill and, I think, will again re-orientate their activity toward Canada. However, there are some very pragmatic people among them, with business contacts in Kyiv, Lviv, Donetsk or Kharkiv, and they are going to develop them no matter what.”

I know that you taught courses at the University of Alberta which were related to Ukrainian culture. The head of Ukrainian studies at the La Sapienza University in Rome Oxana Pachlovska has spoken about a falling popularity of Slavic Studies in Italy, as more and more young people chose a more practical profession. How are things in Canada?

“Right now, the post-war generation of professors at the University of Alberta, who remember the times of ‘influx’ of students to Ukrainian studies well, sadly note that recently the number of applicants has decreased. As a result, the Center for Ukrainian Studies at the University, previously a separate strong institution, has merged with the Center for Modern Foreign Languages. Accordingly, they now teach the Ukrainian language without classic philological basis (history of the language, the Old Slavonic language...), which was quite popular earlier. I would say that the situation varies depending on events in Ukraine. In addition, young people, prior to deciding to enroll (or not to enroll) in Ukrainian philology, think, naturally, about future employment. Well, there are bilingual schools in the western provinces. As for cooperation with Ukraine, they do not see any prospects: they come here to do business, but here they are better off speaking English...

“However, there is another trend. My friend teaches at a small university in Saskatoon. Her group numbers 160 people! Among them there are representatives of different waves of emigration. We can see that there are isolated phenomena that we can not explain.”

What did you teach? Who were your students?

“University programs in Canada allow those who study economics / law / natural sciences to take any course related to Ukrainian or other culture. My course included lectures on Ukrainian songs. Our songs are a real brand! As are our dances! I told my students (a biologist, the lead singer of the Detroit Bandurist Capella, an aspiring hockey coach, a physicist...) of folklore and romances... Pop music of 1960s and 1970s is very popular there — songs by Volodymyr Ivasiuk and Ihor Bilozir. Unbelievably, they considered “Chervona Ruta” a folk song...”

You respond flexibly to fate’s challenges, and have a taste for life in general!

“You hit it! I constantly need to enjoy life: to create something (not necessarily to write), to communicate with people — with ministers (unofficially, at that), teachers, doctors or fishermen...”

Late last year you presented your books in Stryi and Morshyn, in the Lviv region. Few famous people get to small towns. I know that when the head of Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church His Beatitude Liubomyr (Huzar) organized a rock music tour, some kids (incidentally, they were from Stryi), asked priests repeatedly whether Pikardiiska Tertsia and S. K. A. Y. really will come to them.

“I’m generally a fan of small towns! By the way, we have published a gorgeous album Ukraine for Adventurers in Ukrainian and English, which contains about one hundred essays on our towns.

“I can not say I dislike Kyiv, my native city, or megacities in general. But I find the Ukrainian countryside simply charming, with its own specific audience, humble and frank. I am especially fond of Galicia, as Galician towns are so much unlike each other. Moreover, they do not decay, often cultural and church life is very rich there. I am interested in the history of this region, especially in the 1920s-1930s period.”

A hint at a new novel?

“I would love to write one. I already started to write some time before, but I left it unfinished, when realized that I know too little about it.

“More to it, Stryi’s atmosphere is such that you want... to create a salon. It would blend harmoniously in a local cultural context. Stryi citizens, for example, strongly cherish the memory of their countryman, composer Bohdan Veselovsky. (Incidentally, the band VV issued an album of his hits). The bookstore in the town center was visited by almost every famous author, including Halyna Pahutiak, Andrey Kurkov, and Viktor Neborak... In addition, they regularly invite their own prose writers and poets. Interestingly, there is little literary ‘garbage’ there.”

I know that some of the Stryi authors are going to be published by your publishing house, Duliby…

“You can say that my colleagues and I were lucky: we were noticed and published. But this does not mean that we are unique. There are many talented authors around, they just are not lucky.

“I have already published unknown authors. Recently, I found a self-educated folk humorist, who writes in the style of Pavlo Hlazovy, only about current times. In my opinion, Ukrainians are prescribed laughter, as sick people are prescribed drugs.

“This man, Ihor Borshchyk, is an economist and journalist. For four years, he published a newspaper on his own and distributed it all over Stryi. Last year, he ran for the head of the township council and won. Much earlier, he began raising funds to reconstruct the people’s house, that is, the club, and is already directing the repairs. Now I will go into internet projects. So, Ihor’s humoresques will be posted on the Net, as videos, narrated by the author. And he is a great narrator, I must say!

The older I become, the more eager I am not to miss an occasion to support someone talented. It is established practice, in Ukrainian culture in particular.”

You are living in Canada for four years now. So you are participating in national literary life, but from a distance. As you know, an outside view is more impartial. How do you see Ukrainian literature?

“Firstly, during these four years, our literary space has become very structured. Authors congregate in various groups, around various awards, projects. Readers do likewise. The same process occurs, after all, in North American and Russian literature. And it is good, because it is easier to ‘survive’ in that way. Second, some genres of modern, young Ukrainian literature are well-represented and multi-faceted, like the romantic feminine novel. On the other hand, the non-fiction genre is underrepresented. Third, when I founded the publishing house in 2004, it was easier to operate than today: Ukrainians bought more books then. Fourth, a book in North America is still a good gift. We must return this attitude to Ukraine. For a printed a book is a part of an educated person’s lifestyle.

“I remember once sitting with a friend at the bus station in Stryi. We talked about books. We were joined by an older woman, who, having bought some necessities in the district center, was returning to her village. She requested our advice on reading. Then she told us how she loved to go to the bookstore. We noticed that she bought books according to her worldview. However, as we see, there is demand for books.”