TERNOPIL – The stage for the birth of the Ukrainian detective novel was set in 1892 with a description of two women sitting in an elegant salon, engaged in a lively conversation.
From left, detective writers Viktor Melnyk, Oleksandr Vilchynsky and
Serhiy Ukhachevsky pose with smoking pipes in honor of Sherlock Holmes.
(kazatin.com)“Both are the same age, the same demonstrative height, both are attractive, at their prime,” wrote Ivan Franko in the opening paragraph of a novel that would become the precursor to the Ukrainian detective story.“They speak intimately, sometimes unwittingly lowering their voices to a secretive whisper, even though there is no other soul in the salon, in the neighboring room, or in the hallways.”
Loved around the world, the detective novel has captured the imagination of many a reader.Edgar Allen Poe, considered the genre’s father, Agatha Christie and Sir Arthur Conon Doyle have all left their imprint globally; in Ukraine, Franko is only the first of several writers who have tried their hand at the detective novel, pulling the reader into a world where murder, jealously and greed intermingle.
Without doubt, the Ukrainian detective may still be an anomaly for many contemporary readers, said Borys Shavursky, a poet who is an editor at Ternopil’s Bohdan Publishing House, which since 2009 has published detective novels under the rubric “Ukrainian Detective.” In part, that is because the genre is still less developed in Ukraine than in other countries. And partly it is because Ukrainian book publishing as a whole generally lags behind other nations.
“Ukraine is a state where everything is new regarding the cultural reality,” said Shavursky. “We are behind in everything.”
“Ukraine is a state where everything is new regarding the cultural reality,” said Shavursky. “We are behind in everything.”
While their numbers may be small – some 20 Ukrainian writers are actively working in the genre today – those who have penned a detective have told rich stories often reflecting the era in which they lived.Late Yuriy Dolf-Mykhailyk, for instance, wrote about “war and a Soviet agent who works as a spy with the Germans,” said Shavursky.Ternopil’s Oleksandr Vilchinsky has penned “more traditional detectives”; his latest work features a journalist who gets caught up in his city’s intrigues.
Kyiv’s Serhiy Uhachevsky has captured the criminality of contemporary Ukrainian life. “He has written about the beginning of the 1990’s, the events of that criminal period,” noted Shavursky. His “Wall. Fall Illusions” (Stina. Ocinni Iliuzii) was among the first novels to be published in Bohdan’s detective series.Of his own work, the young writer said “criminal life – this is an inexorable part of life itself.”
Readers may be surprised to learn that Volodymyr Lys, considered one of Ukraine’s most esteemed contemporary writers, has also penned a detective. His psychological thriller, “A Woman for a Wall” (Zhinka dlia Stiny), is a story that intertwines the dealings of a privileged individual in search of a willing victim.Kyiv’s Andriy Kokotiuha has written a number of award- winning novels that keep the reader hooked to the end.
While Ukraine’s detective writers draw their inspiration from all corners of the country, it is western Ukraine with its bucolic countryside and quaint villages boasting the architecture of the empires that conquered it, which may offer the most compelling setting for detectives and propel the Ukrainian detective to a higher level.
“Western Ukraine is more organic for the genre,” said Bohdan Budny, Bohdan’s chief editor.
“Western Ukraine is more organic for the genre,” said Bohdan Budny, Bohdan’s chief editor.
Franko’s novel, titled “For the Home Fire” (Dlia Domashnoho Ohnysha) is a case in point. Set in 19th century Halychyna, the historic territory which comprises western Ukraine, the novel tells the story of the captain who after his return from Bosnia finds out the terrible truth about his beloved wife.
Although Franko’s reader would have identified with its 19th century traditions – salons perfumed by women clutching delicate kerchiefs and telegrams are delivered by hand – the modern reader gets a glimpse of western Ukraine as it once was and whose echoes remain.
Polish writers like Marek Krajewski, who writes dark noir, have already started to set their novels in pre-war Lviv.Krajewski recently completed a trilogy highlighting the city.
Shavursky said more Ukrainian detective novels, both from the past and the present, will come to light and delight the reader. Not only are new writers emerging, but a large body of literature published before World War II is still hidden in libraries and archives and is waiting to be uncovered.
“It’s a beginning point,” he said.
Staff writer Natalia A. Feduschak can be reached at [email protected]
