Maria (Ukrainian novel)
1934 novel by Ulas Samchuk
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Maria (Ukrainian: Марія) is a 1934 historical novel by the Ukrainian author Ulas Samchuk.[1] The novel, dedicated "to the mothers who died of hunger in Ukraine in 1932–33", follows the life of a village woman, Maria, between the 1861 emancipation of serfs to the 1932–33 Holodomor.[2] Maria, the first work of fiction to treat the Ukrainian famine, has been included in post-1991 Ukrainian school curricula.[3][4]
| |
| Author | Ulas Samchuk |
|---|---|
| Original title | Марія: хроніка одного життя : роман |
| Translator | Roma Franko |
| Genre | historical novel |
| Publication date | 1934 |
Published in English | 2011 |
| ISBN | 978-0-9877750-0-9 English translation |
The book is organised into three parts: A Book about the Birth of Maria, A Book of Maria's Days, and A Book about Bread.[2] Orphaned at the age of six, Maria is illiterate and forced into work when young.[5] Her first three children die of infectious disease. Her son Maksym, before his murder by his father, is a poor farmer who evicts his parents, denounces his brother, and watches his sister starve. Maksym "combines many features of the Holodomor perpetrator: a quisling, communist, profiteer, sadist and Russian-speaking".[4] Behind Maksym, as the 'Other' bearing ultimate responsibility for the famine, lies the Soviet state centered in Moscow. "Our country has not known such a Tsar-like plundering", exclaims one tortured character.[4]
Significance
The novel covers the history of a Ukrainian village from the time serfs were liberated from white slavery to the genocide of the starving times.[6] It is considered critical to Ukrainian cultural identity.[7][8] It is part of a larger body of fiction about the Holodomor written for readers of all ages.[9]
See also
- Samchuk, Ulas (2011). Cipwynk, Paul (ed.). Maria: A Chronicle of a Life. Translated by Franko, Roma. Language Lanterns Publications Inc. ISBN 978-0-9877750-0-9.
- Samchuk, Ulas (January 10, 2020). Марія (YouTube audiobook) (Video) (in Ukrainian). Archived from the original on 2025-09-25.