Back to Search Start Over

Witnesses, Deniers and Bourgeois Troublemakers. The Holodomor and Ukrainian-Canadian Collaboration in Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch's Winterkill (2022).

Authors :
Świetlicki, Mateusz
Source :
Children's Literature in Education. Dec2024, Vol. 55 Issue 4, p747-763. 17p.
Publication Year :
2024

Abstract

The article examines Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch's Winterkill (2022), a recent Holodomor middle-grade historical novel issued by Scholastic, and showcases that Skrypuch explores the implicated position of North Americans – especially Soviet collaborators and journalists – in the context of the famine and Stalin's collectivization. Most notably, Winterkill brings attention to the actions of Rhea Clyman, a Jewish-Canadian journalist who wrote factual articles about the situation in the Soviet Union but until the mid-2010s was largely forgotten. In the first part of the article, the author briefly introduces the historical background and points to the recent increase of Holodomor-themed Anglophone books. Then, close reading Winterkill, they argue that many characters in the novel, including the ones based on Clyman and Alice, a Ukrainian Canadian girl she met in Kharkiv in 1932, emerge as what Michael Rothberg has called "implicated subjects." The article demonstrates that at first the foreigners in the novel are enchanted with Stalinism, accept its benefits, and their actions – directly and indirectly – contribute to the destruction of the Ukrainian countryside. Winterkill showcases both the importance of recognizing one's implication and sharing the testimony of the Holodomor witnesses, hence keeping the memory of the famine and its victims alive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
00456713
Volume :
55
Issue :
4
Database :
Academic Search Index
Journal :
Children's Literature in Education
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
180934822
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10583-023-09526-y