Working on this project, we cooperated with a group often students of the English Philology Department, Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University, Ukraine. It was their idea that presenting the literary heritage of Ukraine, we should employ the method of chronological contrast. The first part of this Chapter is devoted to the roots of Ukrainian literature – folklore. The choice of the author to represent our latest achievements in literature was obvious – Yuri Andrukhovych, a Ukrainian postmodernist.

Ukrainian Folk Tales

Folk tales are a popular literary genre. From generation to generation, they pass down the wisdom, life experiences, dreams, and aspirations of a nation.

There are three primary types of Ukrainian folk tales: tales about animals, fairy tales, and tales of life and manners. Sometimes features of different folk types blend together to create specific themes or characters that possess supernatural powers or human virtues and vices.

Folk tale characters may be categorized into evil-doers (realistic, allegoric, and fantastic), victims (passive or active), and do-gooders (good people, heroes, and helpers including humans, animals, and plants). Personification of animals and plants is rooted in anthropomorphism and totemism, which are ancestral beliefs in the common origin of all forms of life.

Other characteristic features of Ukrainian folk tales include: conventional formulas for story openings and closings; using numbers 3, 7, 9, and 12 to which ancient Slavs ascribed magical powers; songs, sayings, comparisons, puzzles, and repetitions.