Yuri Andrukhovych (13 March 1960, Ivano-Frankivsk) 鈥� is a contemporary Ukrainian writer, essayist, poet, translator and public figure. Among his most notable works are novels 袪械泻褉械邪褑褨褩 (Recreations, 1992), The Moscoviad, (袦芯褋泻芯胁褨邪写邪, 1993), Perverzion (袩械褉胁械褉蟹褨褟, 1996), Twelve circles (袛胁邪薪邪写褑褟褌褜 芯斜褉褍褔褨胁, 2003), The Secret (孝邪褦屑薪懈褑褟, 2003), and Justicia's lovers (袣芯褏邪薪褑褨 褞褋褌懈褑褨褩, 2017).
Andrukhovych's biggest literary awards include: * BBC Ukraine "Book of the Year" (2018) for novel 芦Justicia's lovers禄
- Igy谩l m茅g egyet, Jurij! - Rendben, pajt谩s, de el艖bb hadd olvassak fel az 煤j reg茅nyemb艖l. - Akkor viszont 茅n iszom.
A Szovjetuni贸 sz茅tesett, de ne s铆rjunk, koz谩kok, mert Ukrajna viszont kiemelkedett a habokb贸l! Menj眉nk ink谩bb Csortopilba, a Felt谩madott L茅lek 眉nnep茅re, lesz h谩zikolb谩sz 茅s tenger sok p谩linka, csapat谩s 茅s veret茅s, ahogy az ilyen alkalmakkor m谩r szok谩sban vagyon. 脡s lesznek ott, dr谩ga hohol atyusk谩k, k枚lt艖k is, a fiatal Ukrajna sz铆ne-vir谩ga, 茅s ha m谩r ott vannak, isznak, mint a kefek枚t艖, lelk眉k pedig bej谩rja az ukr谩n m煤ltat, jelent 茅s j枚vend艖t.
Andruhovics kisreg茅ny茅ben az a pl谩ne, hogy egy olyan nyelv az alapanyaga, ami tulajdonk茅ppen csak most r谩zta le mag谩r贸l a pehelytollakat. Mert am铆g volt Szovjetuni贸, addig volt ugyan ukr谩n nyelv, de az茅rt nem nagyon illett b眉szk茅lkedni vele, mert m茅g a v茅g茅n r谩s眉t枚tt茅k az emberre, hogy banderista-fasiszta elhajl贸. De ugye a Szovjetuni贸nak annyi (b谩r ezt Putyinnal m茅g nem mert茅k k枚z枚lni), 铆gy h谩t szabad a v谩s谩r, lehet ukr谩nul is irodalmat m疟velni. Andruhovics pedig nemhogy m疟veli az irodalmat, hanem r枚gt枚n sz茅t is szedi, 谩t茅rtelmezi, labd谩zik vele, hentereg az ukr谩n mondatokkal a m谩jusi gyepen, sz贸val megtesz mindent, amit csak el tudtok k茅pzelni. Az ukr谩n nyelv meg 茅lvezi, legal谩bbis nekem nagyon 煤gy t疟nik.
Energikus k铆s茅rlet 茅s karnev谩li sz枚veg, bizonyos 茅rtelemben Flann O'Brienre eml茅keztet, ha m谩sban nem, h谩t abban, hogy ezt is akkor lehetne minden 铆z茅ben ki茅lvezni, ha eredetiben olvasn谩nk.
(Megjegyz.: az茅rt a k枚nyv utols贸 oldalai - annak f茅ny茅ben, ami most t枚rt茅nik - f谩jdalmasabban hatnak, mint amilyennek sz谩nt谩k 艖ket.)
T. Hundorova鈥檚 chapter 鈥淭he Postmodern Carnivalesque,鈥� in her book, 鈥楾he Post-Chernobyl Library,鈥� is a most valuable resource for appreciating 鈥楻ecreations.鈥�
There could hardly be a work of greater 鈥榣iterariness;鈥� Andrukhovych is so consciously Bakhtinian that he sets a game of literary science before the reader. Profane and vulgar, the work is Rabelaisian; Polyphonic to the nth degree (through narration, through plot, everything is layered, everything is dialogic), the work is Dostoevskiian. Naturally bridging them is the carnivalesque; we have carnival in carnival. Again, it is a novel after Bakhtinian theory.
Not only by structures and devices, the book is also a labyrinth of references to great literature, both Ukrainian and from the rest of the continent, which have no strict story function; this feature is one of the many ways in which Andrukhovych interacts with his reader.
As for meaning through ideology, there isn鈥檛 any. It isn鈥檛 even anti-colonial in the way Andrukhovych鈥檚 'Moscoviad' is. The Marxist insistence that all literature must be, above all things, ideological receives parodic treatment in self-commentary: the author has Clytemnestra Harazdetska, a peripheral character at Popel鈥檚 soir茅e, say 鈥淥ur poor nation needs courageous liberating words, not senseless playthings. What our womenfolk await from you is truthful poems about their hard lot,鈥� referring to the novel in which she is a character, which is full of playthings, as much as to Nemyrych鈥檚 fictive poems.
In translation it is impossible to assess Andrukhovych鈥檚 well-accepted mastery of literary Ukrainian, but Pavlyshyn's work is superb.
The author鈥檚 wit is undeniable, and humor is all pervasive, existing on every level from simple absurd narration to grand social commentary. A light example in dialogue, between Nemyrych and Bilynkevych: "And were you at the funeral of the poet Petro Harkavy?" "No." "And how was it?" "Dignified."
In brief, this clever novel is worth reading even only as an exercise in literary theory, but is enjoyable in itself.
In Chortopil, anything is possible. Or is it all just one giant show? Andrukhovych's first novel overflows with exuberant irreverence. The themes of carnival and of performance, developed considerably in his later novels Moscoviad and Perverzion, are arguably first stated (and most concisely presented) in Recreations. Carnival is not an ordinary state of being. It's not even always desirable (at one point, a couple of the main characters get chased by a jeering flying drug addict. I'm not making this up). But no matter what, you can always find something to celebrate in this odd "Festival of Resurrecting Spirit".
Recreations regards the imminent demise of the Soviet Union with much more irreverence, and arguably a lot more optimistically , than Moscoviad. In Moscoviad, the end of an era is a frightening time, one in which rotting Soviet systems conspire to jump from the Soviet Union to its descendant republics like parasites jumping to new hosts. But in Recreations, the end of an era is a joyful time. It is a dangerous time, for sure. Bits of the past float up and one isn't sure whether that's a good or bad thing. But rather than fearing this end of an era, the characters in Recreations welcome it.
Pavlyshyn is a noted translator and writer (and was interviewed extensively for Marci Shore's The Ukrainian Night; those more interested in his biography should read that book too), so it's no surprise that the English reads seamlessly and (I assume) with as much as can be preserved of the original's vitality. I burned through this book in one day because it is impossible to put down, and much of that has to be thanks to Pavlyshyn's translation. The introduction and footnotes are must-reads. Special commendation is due to the footnotes, which are written with both scholars of Ukrainian literature and newcomers to Eastern European fiction in mind. Some of the passages (e.g. the enumeration of carnival masks) seem to have a poetic, maybe incantatory effect in Ukrainian, one that cannot be translated into English. But that's all the more reason that readers should revisit the grotesque, nightmarish, joyful, and unpredictable Chortopil in the original Ukrainian.
Compramos este libro una amiga y yo en una genial librer铆a espa帽ola que encontramos en una ciudad de Polonia. La llevaba una mujer polaca apasionada por Espa帽a y nuestro idioma, por lo que encontrabas todos los libros en espa帽ol, o autores que escribieron en espa帽ol en polaco. En su librer铆a pod铆as tomar unas cervezas, reunirte con gente, hablar de libros y comprarlos. As铆 que tomamos unas cervezas y pedimos que nos recomendaran libros polacos. Nos vendieron uno polaco que no se cual es porque lo tiene mi amiga y este, que siendo ucraniano nos dijeron que era buen铆simo, que ten铆amos que leerlo, que merec铆a la pena, que en vez de uno polaco mejor este... En fin. No he entendido casi nada del libro, me ha parecido totalmente surrealista y estaba deseando que se terminara. Puede que sea un libro para gente de la zona o con mucha cultura sobre Ucrania, porque tiene demasiadas acotaciones, reminiscencias a temas culturales o autores de all铆, que te sacan de la historia o que no te dejan entrar.