Among the many intriguing characteristics of the Ukrainian folk
tradition is the fact that Ukrainian epics were sung by a special
type of minstrel -- the blind mendicant. These minstrels were
organized into professional guilds that set standards for training
and performance and provided the singers with protection and
support throughout their careers.
The separateness of Ukrainian culture became politically
salient, and epic singers became the target of repression during
the Stalin era (in 1939 there was a massacre of Ukrainian
minstrels). For this reason -- and due also to tire secrecy that
always surrounded the guilds' rites of membership and their
association with mendicancy -- Ukrainian ministrelsy has been
little studied.
Natalie Kononenko's work is thus a revelation of a distinctive
folk tradition and a little-known social order. It will be of
interest to anyone with an interest in folklore, Ukrainian culture,
or rural social history.
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