Sisters

Oksana Zabuzhko is not only a writer but also a serious scholar bringing modern world critical methodologies to bear on understanding such pivotal nineteenth century Ukrainian writers as Taras Shevchenko and Ivan Franko. Her notorious novel, Field Research on Ukrainian Sex probably owes its popular success more to the title than its content, for it really is not about sex at all, but about the slave mentality of Ukrainian men. I personally consider Oksana's prose introverted and personal. She always portrays her fictional subjects from the perspective of the first person. She is not easy to read but well worth the effort. It is fortunate that at least some of her work has been translated into English.

Natalia Dziubenko, whose St. Andrew the Apostle is still in the print shop and reviewed here by Klara Gudzyk, is completely different. No need to bother looking for the author there; instead there is a panoply of unique and vivid characters. While Oksana was busy immersing herself in Western cultural studies, Natalia was poring over old dictionaries and Chubynsky's nineteenth century collection of Ukrainian folk sayings. On this basis she has completely rewritten and reconstructed the Ukrainian language. You will undoubtedly hear more about the book this fall. More than one member of the Union of Writers, after reading one of the pre-release copies in circulation, has said that they will never be able to write the same as they did. I agree, but then I should not lavish too much praise on that particular author. After all, she is my wife.