The Paths of Folklore: Essays in Honor of Natalie Kononenko

Introduction, Part II: Natalie Kononenko’s Folklore Activities at the University of Alberta, Canada

The Paths of Folklore: Essays in Honor of Natalie Kononenko. Svitlana Kukharenko and Peter Holloway, eds. Bloomington, IN: Slavica Publishers, 2012, 3–5.       Introduction, Part II: Natalie Kononenko’s Folklore Activities at the University of Alberta, Canada Bohdan Medwidsky I   consider   folklore   extremely   important.   Folklore   is  artistic  expression  of  belief.  It  satisfies  our  crav-­‐‑ ing  for  beauty,  be  it  colorful  pysanky  and  embroi-­‐‑ dery,  or  songs  that  cause  tears  to  flow.  And  it  is   the  sort  of  expression  that  is  available  to  everyone.   Folklore   instructs.   It   teaches   cultural   norms   in   a   way  that  is  not  didactic  and  not  obtrusive.  And  it   teaches   universal   moral   truths:   being   kind   to   all   living   creatures,   being   patient,   being   forgiving.   This  makes  folklore  both  universal  and  culturally   specific.   Because   it   is   so   pervasive   and   so   acces-­‐‑ sible,   it   often   goes   unnoticed.   So   often   it   is   dis-­‐‑ missed.   “That’s   just   folklore!”   people   say.   Or   “What   is   there   to   study?   Everyone   knows   folk-­‐‑ lore!”  In  my  career  as  a  folklorist,  I  have  so  often   had  to  justify  what  I  do.  My  problems  were  com-­‐‑ pounded  by  the  fact  that  I  specialize  in  Ukrainian   folklore.   “Why   study   Ukrainian?”   I   would   hear.   “Students   want   to   learn   Russian.   Russia   is   an   important   player   on   the   political   scene.   What   is   Ukraine?”  Worse  still,  I  specialize  in  the  folklore   of   the   countryside.   Again,   the   village   is   not   the   seat  of  power  and  so  what  I  do  would  be  further   disparaged  for  that  reason.     —Natalie  Kononenko   Natalie  Kononenko  had  an  international  reputation  in  Ukrainian  folklore  long   before   she   came   to   the   University   of   Alberta   in   2004.   See,   for   example,   her   books:   Ukrainian   Dumy   (1979),   The   Magic   Egg   and   Other   Tales   from   Ukraine   (with   Barbara   Suwyn)   (1997),   Ukrainian   Minstrels:   And   the   Blind   Shall   Sing   (1998)  as  well  as  dozens  of  journal  articles.   Thanks  to  the  generosity  of  Peter  and  Doris  Kule,  with  matching  funds   from   the   Faculty   of   Arts   and   the   Government   of   Alberta’s   Access   to   the   Future   Fund,   it   was   possible   to   create   the   Kule   Chair   of   Ukrainian   Ethnography.  In  2004  Natalie  Kononenko  moved  from  the  University  of  Vir-­‐‑ 4 BOHDAN MEDWIDSKY ginia  to  become  a  full  Professor  at  the  University  of  Alberta  and  the  first  Kule   Chair.     Over  the  last  seven  years  she  developed  and  taught  undergraduate  and   graduate   courses   for   both   students   specializing   in   Ukrainian   folklore   and   those   with   different   majors.   Among   them   are   “Introduction   to   Folklore,”   “Folklore   and   the   Media,”   “Readings   in   Contemporary   Folklore   Theory,”   “Readings  in  Post-­‐‑Soviet  Folklore,”  “Ukrainian  Folk  Song,”  “Ukrainian  Folk   Prose,”   “Ukrainian   Folk   Belief,”   “Ukrainian   Rites   of   Passage,”   “Ukrainian   Folk  Art  and  Performance,”  “Ukrainian  Folklore  Methods,”  and  “Folklore  Re-­‐‑ search  Methods.”  She  has  supervised  two  Master’s  students  and  three  Ph.D.   students  over  this  time.  Her  teaching  and  research  excellence  were  recognized   through  a  number  of  teaching  and  research/equipment  grants,  namely  a  So-­‐‑ cial  Sciences  and  Humanities  Research  Council  grant  in  support  of  the  project   “Reciprocal   Analysis:   Group-­‐‑sourcing   Ukrainian   Folklore   Audio”   (2010),   a   Ukrainian   Pioneers   of   Alberta   grant   for   developing   and   testing   a   folklore-­‐‑ based  learning  module  for  the  Ukrainian  bilingual  program  (2006),  a  Univer-­‐‑ sity  of  Alberta  Academic  Technologies  for  Learning  grant  for  developing  the   Ukrainian  Traditional  Folklore  website  as  a  learning  object  (2004–05),  a  Uni-­‐‑ versity  of  Alberta  Endowment  Fund  for  the  Future  Special  Capital  Equipment   Grant   (2004–05),   and   a   Ukrainian   Benevolent   Society   of   Edmonton   archival   support  grant  (2004–05).   Folklorists   do   their   work   in   the   community   as   well   as   in   academia.   Natalie   Kononenko   is   no   exception   to   this   rule.   Thus,   she   has   performed   “scary   stories”   at   restaurants   in   Edmonton,   specifically   at   Halloween   time.   She  has  performed  children’s  stories  at  the  Edmonton  Deep  Freeze  Festival.   She   has   done   other   community   networking,   sometimes   in   the   company   of   Peter  Holloway  and  Yanina  Vyhovska,  during  Edmonton  Heritage  Days,  the   Vegreville  Pysanka  Festival,  and  at  the  Ukrainian  Cultural  Heritage  Village.   She  has  repeatedly  conducted  free  workshops  open  to  the  public  on  the  craft   of  pysanka  writing  and  the  production  of  motanky  (cloth  dolls).  She  has  also   presented  a  number  of  public  lectures  at  the  Shevchenko  Scientific  Society  in   Edmonton,   the   Alberta   Genealogical   Society,   and   at   several   Ukrainian   churches  in  Edmonton.   In  2004,  right  after  she  arrived  at  the  University  of  Alberta,  Natalie  organ-­‐‑ ized  a  weekly  graduate  seminar/lunch  that  was  later  renamed  the  “Folklore   Lunch.”  The  initial  purpose  was  to  let  graduate  students  give  formal  presen-­‐‑ tations  in  front  of  an  audience  and  in  this  way  to  prepare  them  for  confer-­‐‑ ences   outside   of   the   university.   Natalie   has...