Danielle Leavitt and Dr. Patrick Madden, Department of English

Because anti-Soviet sentiments dominated the western stage for roughly the past century, very little literature exists in regards to post-Soviet daily life in former Soviet countries and cities. Specifically interesting are the socio-economic differences that emerged in former Soviet communities following the fall of the Soviet Union. Our project looked at three Ukrainian families in different social classes living within or near the capital city of Kiev. In a summerlong field study, I lived with three families in the suburban low, urban middle, and upperoligarchical social classes. The project’s aimed at producing three creative nonfiction essays stemming from observations, historical research, and the experience of the Ukrainians with whom I interacted. Ukraine (specifically Kiev) has a rich cultural and political history and a flowering modern culture heavily influenced by deep-rooted traditions, superstitions, and beliefs. There is little literature that contributes to the exploration of both sophisticated and unsophisticated Ukraine in a creative fashion. Our goal was to do just that: to delve into the human, commonplace intricacies of post-Soviet Ukrainian life through observation and writing.

Creative nonfiction is in the business of factual prose that is also literary. It is writing based on fact—and remains undimmed and applicable by the passing of time, with a primary interest in enduring human values and honesty. Our project ventured to observe these three Ukrainian families with the aforementioned interest in enduring human values and honesty. My conclusions, naturally, cannot be quantified or measured, as any conclusions I may have reached were by their nature subjective and anecdotal. The purpose of our project wasn’t necessarily to reach conclusions, but rather to witness and share. The project’s mission continues to be “understanding important ideas in [our] own cultural tradition as well as that of others” (BYU Mission Statement), and, in a general sense, the main importance of this project is its ability to promote compassion and understanding. For the purpose of this final report, I will give a description of each of the households in which I lived and the essay being produced from that experience.

The first family with which I lived was a middle class family. The mother of the family, Lena, is a retired Russian history professor and a current art studio agent. She gives art tours and helps Ukrainian artists sell their art. Her husband, Nikita, works as a professional sculptor. They live outside the center of Kiev in a large, old Soviet apartment building. They have three children, two of which are married each with one child. Lena and Nikita are Russian Orthodox. Their apartment was a small two-room flat on the fifth floor of their building. She worked as an English teacher during the day, while her twenty-year-old daughter Masha went to theater school. She prepared traditional Ukrainian and Russian cuisine dishes in the evenings, and they celebrated holidays with family. Living with them provided insight into a middle class family—they all worked or studied, they lived in the city, and they shopped at bazaars and small supermarkets. We often went to large botanical gardens and art shows.

The second family with which I lived was the Yushchenko family. Viktor and Kateryna Yushchenko are the former President and First Lady of Ukraine. They began Ukraine’s Orange Revolution in 2004, following a rigged presidential election. After an alleged assassination attempt in 2004, Viktor was confirmed to have ingested hazardous amounts of TCDD, which is the most potent form of dioxin poisoning. He suffered disfigurement as a result of the poisoning, but has been slowly recovering in recent years.They live just outside of Kiev in a wealthy, oligarchical neighborhood, in fact, their neighbor is Leonid Kuchma, who served as the second president of independent Ukraine. They have three young children, and currently work on various projects, including the planning and construction of Ukraine’s first state-of-the-art children’s hospital. Their home, which was situated far back in the woods outside of Kiev, was guarded by 24-hour security. They drove into town everyday for school or work with various vehicles and drivers. Their house sat on the banks of a small river, on which the children would play or float. They had maids and cooks, and they ate traditional Ukrainian dishes every night. The children took bandura lessons, which is the traditional folk instrument of Ukraine. They attended Ukrainian folk festivals, and their home was decorated with hundreds of Ukrainian paintings of Ukrainian folk scenes and people. They are huge advocates for a Ukrainian cultural revival, and much of their efforts are to promote such. Living with them was, in all honesty, surreal. Their lifestyle was so far removed from anything that is normal to me, however I found them to be some of the kindest people I have ever known. They threw large parties and took interest in friends of all backgrounds.

The last family that I lived with was a family living in stark contrast to the Yushchenkos. They live in a poor, rural community just outside of Kiev. Viktor and Maria have seven children, extraordinarily rare in Ukraine, as most families have no more than one or two children. In the 1990s, Viktor was making twenty dollars a month, working as pilot for Russia’s Aeroflot Airlines. He no longer flies for Aeroflot, but he is the architect, constructer, and test-pilot of his own helicopters. They grow and harvest most of their own food, and they live in small village house with an outdoor “banya,” which is a Russian/Ukrainian bathhouse. Although the project makes no distinction between which families I enjoyed most, I will say that I really loved living with this family. Despite the stark differences between their lives and my own life, I found, the longer I was there, that material and cultural discrepancies seemed to dissolve and we existed just as people. The “simplicity” of their life should not be confused with the simplicity of their concerns. They have just as much worry and burden in their hearts and minds as any of the other families with which I lived, despite the fact that they lived so simply. The three essays that I am finishing and polishing for publication focus on learning to prepare Ukrainian food with Ukrainian women, the religious and historical significance of Kiev’s Dnieper River, the process of raising bees and honey, Ukraine’s current political situation and hierarchy, and the Kiev Metro System and experiences on it. While publication is never guaranteed, I am hopeful that any or all of the essays may find publication. Upon the completion of the essays, we will submit the essays each to publication in a variety of literary magazines. Additionally, we have submitted for presentation at the Utah Conference on Undergraduate Research in February 2013, and we will submit for the BYU English Symposium.