Microsoft Word - Folk2010E.doc FOLKLORICA 2010, Vol. XV 182 Красиков, Михайло (ред.), М.Ф. Сумцов: Дослідження з етнографії та історії Слобідської України. Вибрані праці. [Mykhailo Krasykov (ed.) M. F. Sumtsov: Research in Ethnography and History of the Sloboda Ukraine. Selected Writings]. Kharkiv, Ukraine: Vydavnytstvo “ATOS,” 2008. 557 pp. Photographs, notes, bibliography. Paper. ISBN 978-966-1500-11-1. Mykola Sumtsov (1854-1922) was a prominent scholar with virtually boundless interests who covered an extremely broad spectrum of problems in his works: he has been known as a folklorist, ethnographer, literary critic, art critic, historian and culture historian, museum specialist, pedagogue, bibliographer, and public servant. The bibliography of his (known) works contains 1544 entries, yet many of his writings vanished in the chaos of the 20th century. This collection is dedicated to the 155th anniversary of this outstanding person whose works are widely used nowadays by Slavic folklorists and ethnographers. In his introductory article, Вдячний син Слобожанщини [The Grateful Son of the Sloboda Region] Krasykov presents the details of Sumtsov’s biography: his family, education, and his becoming a scholar deeply interested in what he studied. Krasykov underscores that although Sumtsov belonged to the cosmopolitan intelligentsia of his time he remained a patriot who looked with loving eyes at his own countrymen. Sumtsov did not idealize the folk, but knew their way of life very well, and was critical of certain folk customs he viewed as cruel and senseless. A person of action, Sumtsov did a lot to advance scholarship. Also, trying to make the knowledge accessible to the simple people he advocated education for villagers. The first chapter is a reprint of Sumtsov’s entire book Слобожане [Dwellers of the Sloboda Region], which was initially published in 1918. It contains 20 subchapters and elaborates on such topics as history of the region, agriculture and manufacturing, commerce, everyday life, housing, clothes, cuisine, people’s psychology, worldview, alcoholism, folk medicine, arts and science, theatre life, local folklorists, the Church and Ethnography Museums in Kharkiv, and so on. This piece of Sumtsov’s work is widely acknowledged as an encyclopedia of the Sloboda Ukraine. The second chapter, Повір’я, звичаї та побут слобожан [Beliefs, Customs, and Everyday Life of Dwellers of the Sloboda Region] presents a collection of Sumtsov’s essays that was initially published in 1914 and based on his fieldwork of 1901. Here the reader finds REVIEWS 183 FOLKLORICA 2010, Vol. XV ethnographic descriptions of people’s ways of life and family relations, existing crafts and trades, bazaars and folk entertainments. There is also information about a church hospice, Chumak trades, description of certain towns, and villages and village intelligentsia. Chapter three, Слобідське кобзарство [Minstrelsy of the Sloboda Region] includes reprints of three essays from 1880, 1905, and 1907. Those present a general overview of the blind minstrels in the Kharkiv Governorate (Kharkivs’ka huberniia), scholarly research, and a biography of Kucherenko, a bandura player. Chapter four, Письменники-слобожани – фольклористи та етнографи [Writers from the Sloboda Region - Folklorists and Ethnographers] is a collection of essays (initially published on various occasions and different years) about six Ukrainian writers and poets who based their works on local Ukrainian folklore: Kvitka-Osnov’ianenko, Metlyns’kyi, Manzhura, Shchoholiv, Hrinchenko, and Evarnyts’kyi. Sumtsov provided biographies of all six, and analyzed folk motifs in their works of prose or poetry. Chapter five, Дослідники народної культури Слобідської України [Researchers of the Folk Culture of the Sloboda Ukraine] presents Sumtsov’s essays on local ethnographers and folklorists. It familiarizes readers with Kalynovs’kyi who wrote on Ukrainian wedding rituals back in 1777; Petro Ivanov and his research on peasants’ worldview, children’s games, and legends; and Olena Radakova, a historian who promoted local ethnography studies. Chapter six, Просвіта і наука [Enlightenment and Education] is a collection of six essays by Sumtsov on cultural life and educational institutions in the Sloboda region. Here readers learn about the Popov Academy established by Palitsyn; the 12th Archeological Congress held in Kharkiv in 1902 and its cultural influences; the Kharkiv art museum; students of the Kharkiv University who did ethnographic research; and Oleksandr Potebnia, a Professor of the same University and a renowned linguist. The closing article by Mykhailo Krasykov, М. Сумцов і ми [M. Sumtsov and Us] presents a detailed picture of what happened to Sumtsov’s writings and reputation in the 20th century. Despite the Soviet authorities’ attempts to deny him a place in history, Sumtsov’s devoted students and followers struggled to memorialize him and popularize his scholarly heritage. Krasykov’s book is yet another important step in that direction. FOLKLORICA 2010, Vol. XV 184 Krasykov provides both his articles and the entire book with an enormous amount of detailed foot- and endnotes. Those serve to present important historical and bibliographical references, clarify information, help the contemporary reader to understand the context and contents of the book, and transform the book itself into almost an encyclopedia. Rare photographs and illustrations from Sumtsov’s books, as well as the original orthography and syntax allow for better approximation of Sumtsov’s times and the heroes of his writings. The book will be of great value and interest to any folklorist or folklore student but especially those who deal with Slavic (or specifically Ukrainian) materials. In addition it should appeal to all interested readers who appreciate good reading combined with quality work and meticulous analysis done by both Sumtsov and Krasykov. Svitlana Kukharenko University of Alberta Edmonton, Alberta Canada << /ASCII85EncodePages false /AllowTransparency false /AutoPositionEPSFiles true /AutoRotatePages /None /Binding /Left /CalGrayProfile (Dot Gain 20%) /CalRGBProfile (sRGB IEC61966-2.1) /CalCMYKProfile (U.S. Web Coated \050SWOP\051 v2) /sRGBProfile (sRGB IEC61966-2.1) /CannotEmbedFontPolicy /Error /CompatibilityLevel 1.4 /CompressObjects /Tags /CompressPages true /ConvertImagesToIndexed true /PassThroughJPEGImages true /CreateJDFFile false /CreateJobTicket false /DefaultRenderingIntent /Default /DetectBlends true /ColorConversionStrategy /LeaveColorUnchanged /DoThumbnails false /EmbedAllFonts true /EmbedJobOptions true /DSCReportingLevel 0 /SyntheticBoldness 1.00 /EmitDSCWarnings false /EndPage -1 /ImageMemory 1048576 /LockDistillerParams false /MaxSubsetPct 100 /Optimize true /OPM 1 /ParseDSCComments true /ParseDSCCommentsForDocInfo true /PreserveCopyPage true /PreserveEPSInfo true /PreserveHalftoneInfo false /PreserveOPIComments false /PreserveOverprintSettings true /StartPage 1 /SubsetFonts true /TransferFunctionInfo /Apply /UCRandBGInfo /Preserve /UsePrologue false /ColorSettingsFile () /AlwaysEmbed [ true ] /NeverEmbed [ true ] /AntiAliasColorImages false /DownsampleColorImages true /ColorImageDownsampleType /Bicubic /ColorImageResolution 300 /ColorImageDepth -1 /ColorImageDownsampleThreshold 1.50000 /EncodeColorImages true /ColorImageFilter /DCTEncode /AutoFilterColorImages true /ColorImageAutoFilterStrategy /JPEG /ColorACSImageDict << /QFactor 0.15 /HSamples [1 1 1 1] /VSamples [1 1 1 1] >> /ColorImageDict << /QFactor 0.15 /HSamples [1 1 1 1] /VSamples [1 1 1 1] >> /JPEG2000ColorACSImageDict << /TileWidth 256 /TileHeight 256 /Quality 30 >> /JPEG2000ColorImageDict << /TileWidth 256 /TileHeight 256 /Quality 30 >> /AntiAliasGrayImages false /DownsampleGrayImages true /GrayImageDownsampleType /Bicubic /GrayImageResolution 300 /GrayImageDepth -1 /GrayImageDownsampleThreshold 1.50000 /EncodeGrayImages true /GrayImageFilter /DCTEncode /AutoFilterGrayImages true /GrayImageAutoFilterStrategy /JPEG /GrayACSImageDict << /QFactor 0.15 /HSamples [1 1 1 1] /VSamples [1 1 1 1] >> /GrayImageDict << /QFactor 0.15 /HSamples [1 1 1 1] /VSamples [1 1 1 1] >> /JPEG2000GrayACSImageDict << /TileWidth 256 /TileHeight 256 /Quality 30 >> /JPEG2000GrayImageDict << /TileWidth 256 /TileHeight 256 /Quality 30 >> /AntiAliasMonoImages false /DownsampleMonoImages true /MonoImageDownsampleType /Bicubic /MonoImageResolution 1200 /MonoImageDepth -1 /MonoImageDownsampleThreshold 1.50000 /EncodeMonoImages true /MonoImageFilter /CCITTFaxEncode /MonoImageDict << /K -1 >> /AllowPSXObjects false /PDFX1aCheck false /PDFX3Check false /PDFXCompliantPDFOnly false /PDFXNoTrimBoxError true /PDFXTrimBoxToMediaBoxOffset [ 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 ] /PDFXSetBleedBoxToMediaBox true /PDFXBleedBoxToTrimBoxOffset [ 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 ] /PDFXOutputIntentProfile () /PDFXOutputCondition () /PDFXRegistryName (http://www.color.org) /PDFXTrapped /Unknown /Description << /ENU (Use these settings to create PDF documents with higher image resolution for high quality pre-press printing. 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