Василь Кожелянко. Діти застою

Василь Кожелянко

Work proposed for translation:

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A novel (2012)
Length: 352 pp.
Copyright: Heirs: natarusnak81@gmail.com

Vasyl Kozhelianko (1957–2008) was a Ukrainian journalist, literary critic, writer, and poet. He collaborated with various Ukrainian magazines for a long time. He left behind a significant body of work: five poetry collections, two books of short stories, ten novels, and six plays. During his lifetime, Kozhelianko was considered a cult author, as evidenced by the reactions of literary critics, the multiple reprints of some of his books, and numerous literary awards. Kozhelianko’s style is characterised by constant experimentation with genres — alternative history, time travel, political utopian novels, cryptohistory, retro detective stories, pseudo-historical and philosophical novels. Vasyl Kozhelianko’s works, written in the genre of alternative history, are classified as “Ukrainian fantasy”. The characters in these stories are reminiscent of the heroes of picaresque novels as well as “supermen” from both Ukrainian culture and Hollywood action films. Literary scholars still argue about whether Kozhelianko’s work should be classified as modern or postmodern, but they all agree that it is “luxurious intellectual entertainment for those with a sense of humour.”

Children of Stagnation (2012) is Vasyl Kozhelianko’s latest and, according to critics, best novel. The story begins with the birth of the protagonist, Panteleimon Liudyniuk, in the late 1950s and ends in the mid-2000s. The hero lives the life of a person who, by the will of history, is chained to Soviet reality and witnesses the collapse of the USSR and the emergence of independent Ukraine. The generation referred to in the novel as “children of stagnation” demarcated two great wars — the Second World War, which has passed, and the Russian-Ukrainian war, which is still ongoing. These are people who were shaped under the watchful eye of the Soviet secret services, immobilised by social pseudo-elevators and demoralised by total surveillance and mutual denunciation. These are people who thought they would finally be able to break out of this stagnation and burst into the free world, but instead they find themselves in even more painful poverty, going around in circles, chasing the shadows of prosperity, love, and freedom. This is a very candid portrait of a disappointed generation, written in the exquisite style of a true master, a representative of that generation.