Vasyl Barka (; real name — ''Vasyl Kostiantynovych Ocheret'' (), another pseudo — ''Ivan Vershyna'' (); 16 July 1908, – 11 April 2003, Glen Spey) was an American-residing Ukrainian poet, writer, literary critic, and translator.

Biography

Vasyl Barka's family had a

Cossack The Cossacks are a predominantly East Slavic Eastern Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia. Cossacks played an important role in defending the southern borders of Ukraine and Rus ...

origin. In 1927, Barka graduated from

Lubny Lubny (, ) is a city in Poltava Oblast, central Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Lubny Raion. It also hosts the administration of , one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Population: History Lubny is reputed to be one of the oldes ...

Pedagogical College, and then worked as a teacher in a mining village in

Donbas The Donbas (, ; ) or Donbass ( ) is a historical, cultural, and economic region in eastern Ukraine. The majority of the Donbas is occupied by Russia as a result of the Russo-Ukrainian War. The word ''Donbas'' is a portmanteau formed fr ...

. There he did not get along with the local authorities, and went to the

North Caucasus The North Caucasus, or Ciscaucasia, is a subregion in Eastern Europe governed by Russia. It constitutes the northern part of the wider Caucasus region, which separates Europe and Asia. The North Caucasus is bordered by the Sea of Azov and the B ...

. In 1928, he entered the philology faculty of

Krasnodar Krasnodar, formerly Yekaterinodar (until 1920), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The city stands on the Kuban River in southern Russia, with a population of 1,154,885 residents, and up to 1.263 millio ...

Pedagogical Institute and worked at the Krasnodar Art Museum. Supported by

Pavlo Tychyna Pavlo Hryhorovych Tychyna (; – September 16, 1967) was a major Ukrainians, Ukrainian poet, translator, publicist, public activist, academician, and statesman. He composed the lyrics to the Anthem of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. Lif ...

, Barka's work first appeared in print in 1929. The publication of his first book of poems in 1930 provoked much ideological criticism, including accusations of "

bourgeois nationalism In Marxist theory, bourgeois nationalism is the ideology of the ruling capitalist class which aims to overcome class antagonism between proletariat and bourgeoisie by appealing to national unity. It is seen as a distraction from engaging in class ...

" and "religious carry-overs". Barka transferred from Krasnodar Institute to the postgraduate school of the

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

Pedagogical Institute, wrote his thesis on the realistic and the fantastic in the

Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' (, ) is an Italian narrative poetry, narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun and completed around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and one of ...

Dante Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...

, and presented the thesis in 1940. He lectured at the Philology faculty at

Rostov Rostov-on-Don is a port city and the administrative centre of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies in the southeastern part of the East European Plain on the Don River, from the Sea of Azov, directly north of t ...

University. In 1941, after the

Great Patriotic War The Eastern Front, also known as the Great Patriotic War (term), Great Patriotic War in the Soviet Union and its successor states, and the German–Soviet War in modern Germany and Ukraine, was a Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II ...

broke out, Barka volunteered to join the people's militia, and in 1942 he was badly injured and caught in the occupation. After he recovered, he worked as a proofreader at a newspaper. In 1943, he was sent to Germany. After that, he lived in Germany, where he was active in the MUR literary association. In 1947, he moved to France, then, in 1950 to the United States. There he worked at

Radio Liberty Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a media organization broadcasting news and analyses in 27 languages to 23 countries across Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the Middle East. Headquartered in Prague since 1995, RFE/RL ...

. Sometimes he was starving, and had to take any job: he worked as a fireman, a window cleaner, etc.

Works

Vasyl Barka was close to the New York group of Ukrainian poets. Barka's orphic works require intuitive rather than logical comprehension. His poetry developed and grew in stature, from the early lyrical collections to the monumental 4,000-strophe epic novel in verse, The Witness for the Sun of Seraphims, 1981. It addressed the theme of reconciliation between man and the Creator. His first novel, ''Rai'' (Paradise, 1953), deals with the Soviet 'paradise.' His second novel, '' Zhovtyi kniaz (The Yellow Prince, 1963), about the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide of 1932–33, was translated into French (Paris 1981) and served as the basis for Oles Yanchuk's 1993 Ukrainian feature film ''Holod-33'' ( Famine-33). Partial list of works: * ''Pathways'' (1930, poetry) * ''Workshops'' (1932, poetry) * ''Apostles'' (1946, poetry) * ''God's Earth'' (1947, poetry) * ''Paradise'' (1953, novel) * ''The lark's springs'' (1956, essays) * ''The rose novel'' (1957, poetry) * ''Psalm of the dove field'' (1958, poetry) * ''Ocean'' (1959, poetry) * ''True Poet'' (1961, essay on the works of

Taras Shevchenko Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko (; ; 9 March 1814 – 10 March 1861) was a Ukrainian poet, writer, artist, public and political figure, folklorist, and ethnographer. He was a fellow of the Imperial Academy of Arts and a member of the Brotherhood o ...

) * '' Zhovtyi kniaz (The Yellow Prince)'' (1963, novel about the

Holodomor The Holodomor, also known as the Ukrainian Famine, was a mass famine in Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Ukraine from 1932 to 1933 that killed millions of Ukrainians. The Holodomor was part of the wider Soviet famine of 1930–193 ...

in Ukraine, published in Ukraine in 1991) * ''Sky rider'' (1965, religious and philosophical essays) * ''Lіryst'' (1968, poetry) * ''Creativity'' (1968, essays) * ''Judgment Step'' (1992, poem) * ''Caucasus'' (1993, a dramatic poem)

Recognition

The novel ''Yellow Prince'' was twice nominated for the Nobel Prize. The novel is published in Ukraine in the ''School Library'' series, and is studied in schools. The novel was the basis for the 1991 film, ''Holod-33'' (Eng. ''Famine-33''), directed by . In the Ukrainian National Opera, in 2008, the director Andriy Zholdak staged the play ''Lenin Love, Stalin Love'' based on ''Yellow Prince''. In 1981, Vasyl Barka was awarded the Antonovych prize.

References

External links

The works of Vasyl Barka in the digital library ukrclassic.com.ua

// Encyclopedia of Ukraine
Барка,_Василь
// The Great Ukrainian Encyclopedia {{DEFAULTSORT:Barka, Vasyl 1908 births 2003 deaths People from Poltava Oblast People from Lubensky Uyezd Ukrainian democracy activists Ukrainian male poets Ukrainian literary critics Translators of William Shakespeare 20th-century Ukrainian translators 20th-century Ukrainian poets Soviet military personnel of World War II Soviet emigrants to the United States