2022/44: Fieldwork in Ukrainian Sex -- Oksana Zabuzhko (translated from Ukrainian by Halyna H

2022/44: Fieldwork in Ukrainian Sex -- Oksana Zabuzhko (translated from Ukrainian by Halyna Hryn)

... Eastern fatalism, oh yes -- the Russians have it; we’re in worse shape, we, actually, are neither here nor there, Europe has managed to infect us with the raving fever of individual desire, faith in our personal “Yes I can!” -- however, we never developed a foundation for such faith, those structures that might support that “I can!” and thus have tussled about for ages at the bottom of history -- our Ukrainian “I can!” helpless and alone. Amen. [p. 23]

Not always an easy book to read, and definitely not easy to sum up or review. It's a stream-of-consciousness narrative (in first, second and third person) focussing on 'Oksana', a Ukrainian poet who lectures at Harvard; who reflects on the painful end of a passionate relationship with a Ukrainian artist; who tries to reconcile the pre-independence Ukraine in which she grew up with the raw new country that is still reclaiming its own culture and language.

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