Riddles of the Heart (Ukrainian Male Authors, 1880-1920) - Softcover

Ivan Franko; Mykola Chernyavsky; Hnat Khotkevych; Mykhaylo Kotsyubynsky; Volodymyr Vynnychenko

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0973598212 ISBN 13: 9780973598216

Publisher: Language Lanterns Publications, 2005

Synopsis

The stories in Riddles of the Heart have one overarching motif: the age-old puzzle of physical attraction, sensuality, desire, and the unfathomable course of passionate love. Some portray the histrionic reactions of adolescents to the vicissitudes of first love; others focus on the disastrous consequences, for women, of flouting social mores. Still others portray women as Jezebels who use their sexuality to ensnare hapless men to better their lot in life or satisfy a deeply rooted need fo adulation, power, independence.Thus in an extreme case of role reversal, a liberated women callously takes advantage of a man's infatuation to attain her goal of motherhood unencumbered by marriage. At the time they were written, some of the stories in this anthology were deemed immoral or amoral, and their authors were censured by conservative peers and critics. those considered a threat to the social order were banned and, as was true of similar groundbreaking literature in Western Europe, did not become generally accessible to Ukrainian readers until several decades, even a century later. The issues addressed in this book remain disturbing, but the content that scandalized the reader of ther day has long since lost its shock value.Today's reader is more likely to commend the authors for their honest exploration of issues of morality and equity in male-female relationships. The short fiction in this book and its companion volume, Passion's Bitter Cup,provides a fascinating glimpse into life as it was lived in urban Ukraine at the turn of the twentieth century -- a time of social unrest, shifting values, and heady affirmations of free love and freedom of choice.Together, the two volumes illuminate the social history of a part of Eastern Europe that is still reaping the wild wind of its turbulent past.

About this title

About the Author

The works in this anthology were written between 1880 and 1920 by the following classical Ukrainian male authors: Mykola Chernyavsky, Ivan Franko, Hnat Khotkevych, Mykhaylo Kotsyubynsky, Osyp Makovey, Mykhaylo Mohylyansky, Panas Myrny, Leonid Pakharevsky, Stepan Vassylchenko, and Volodymyr vynnychenko.

Edition details

• Publisher: Language Lanterns Publications
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0973598212
• ISBN 13: 9780973598216
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 352