geopoliticsukraine

  This article was taken from my paper for the 2024 University of Toronto course taught by Professor Taras Koznarsky, "Origins of Russia and Ukraine". For centuries, Ukrainian folk ballads have provided cathartic healing for people in Ukrainian lands. Ukrainian dumy were complex, accessible works of oral literary culture that resonated with people in Ukrainian lands. Their multiple layers included a Christian and Cossack ethos, a triadic structure in narratives that reflected a symbolic rite of passage Grabowicz (2011-2014) (p. 5) , pagan elements familiar to society, literary devices, and an evocative performance style where the laments were chanted using the recitative technique. According to Ukrainian Minstrels: And the Blind Shall Sing , Kononenko (2015) (p. 31) , the dumy’s content was considered serious material and described either the Turko-Tatar period, the rebellion led by Khmelnytsky, or everyday life of 17 th century peasants from Ukrainian lands. Dumy used