Contemporary Ukrainian Sci-Fi and Fantasy: Folklore and Mythology in One Package
How Ukrainian writers weave folklore and magical elements into contemporary sci-fi and fantasy.
In Ukrainian literature, sci-fi and fantasy are often intertwined with ethnocultural archetypes, images of nature spirits, and mythical creatures.
Motifs like these, for instance, appear in the short story collection "Motanka", whose stories draw on Ukrainian myths and mystical legends, while Svitlana Taratorina's novel "Lazarus" blends urban fantasy with elements of magic and mysticism, drawing on traditional Ukrainian folklore motifs.
How exactly magical elements get woven into Ukrainian sci-fi — the DeTalks team takes a look.
Folklore as the Foundation of Ukrainian Sci-Fi
The main sources behind Ukrainian sci-fi's origins are considered to be folklore and ancient mythology, which create the cultural foundation writers draw on. Ukrainian mythology and demonology, in turn, encourage works that blend the real and the invented, the rational and the spiritual.
Folklore brings together various genres of oral folk tradition. Myths, for instance, explained the world and were perceived as truth. Dumas, like 'Marusia Bohuslavka' or 'Kozak Holota,' recreated historical events and Cossack struggles. Parables, proverbs, and sayings passed down moral values and the people's life experience.
The most popular directions in contemporary Ukrainian sci-fi are fantasy and mysticism. New genre directions are also emerging in domestic works, including urban fantasy, cyberpunk, dystopia, and horror sci-fi.
Mythology and Demonological Images
Mythology is divided into higher mythology, centered on gods and cosmogony (the study of the origin of celestial bodies), and lower mythology, which explains humanity's place in the world. Within Ukrainian mythology, mavky hold a place of their own — the souls of deceased girls who appear as alluring but dangerous beings.
Ukrainian mythology's demonic figures also include the Bluid, who leads travelers astray, rusalky — the souls of drowned women who lure people in and symbolize the danger of water — and upyri, the dead who rise again and can harm the living by drinking their blood.
The Development of Sci-Fi in Ukraine
Contemporary Ukrainian sci-fi has roots that stretch back to ancient times, since for a long time, fantastical elements in Ukrainian literature existed in the form of fairy tales, legends, epic songs, and folk tales.
In the 19th century, fantastical motifs were actively used in Romantic literature, blending with national themes and folklore. In the century that followed, the development of Ukrainian sci-fi was constrained by censorship, and after Ukraine gained independence, it received new momentum as that control disappeared.
Literary contests also played a role in the genre's development — 'Zoriana Fortetsia,' 'RBZh Azymut,' 'LITavytsia,' and 'Arkush,' which gave young authors a chance to make a name for themselves.
Contemporary Ukrainian Sci-Fi: Authors
Dara Korniy
Dara Korniy is one of the contemporary Ukrainian writers working in fantasy. The author began her career writing for children's and teen magazines.
In 2010, the publishing house Klub Simeinoho Dozvillia published the writer's first novel, Honikhmarnyk, in which the author blended Ukrainian mythology and Polissian legends, recreating the atmosphere of the Carpathians and Lviv. The novel follows the 'forbidden' relationship between Alina and Sashko — the characters try to lift a destructive family curse, risking their lives, since only true love can overcome this dark legacy.
This work brought the author third place in the literary contest Koronatsiia Slova 2010, in the Novel category. The book also received the 'Debut of the Year' distinction and became a laureate of the Portal 2011 sci-fi assembly award. After her debut's success, Dara Korniy earned the unofficial title of 'Ukraine's Stephenie Meyer.'
The author herself explains her motivation for writing Honikhmarnyk as a desire to popularize Ukrainian mythology among teenagers.
Dara Korniy has described how her daughter was engrossed in Meyer's vampire sagas, retelling their plots to her with excitement every time,
The writer's second novel, Tomu Shcho Ty Ye ('Because You Are'), became the 'Publisher's Choice' at the Koronatsiia Slova 2011 contest, and her Zvorotnii Bik Svitla ('The Reverse Side of Light') received the same distinction in 2012. Over the course of her career, Dara Korniy has written nearly two dozen books drawing on motifs from Ukrainian mythology, folklore, and mysticism.
Volodymyr Arenev
Volodymyr Arenev, also known by his real surname, Puzii, is also one of Ukraine's contemporary sci-fi authors. He's also known as a literary critic and journalist who analyzes sci-fi literature and speaks at book festivals.
As of the early 2010s, Volodymyr had over 16 solo books and more than a hundred publications in multi-author anthologies. The writer works across a broad range of genres, including classic fantasy, mysticism, surrealism, science fiction, and children's literature. Arenev blends deep psychological depth with vivid imagination.
One of the author's novels, for instance, is "Bisova Dusha" ('The Devil's Soul'), written in the genre of Ukrainian folkloric fantasy with a Cossack flavor. In it, Volodymyr Arenev blends an adventure plot with motifs from Ukrainian mythology, in particular the concepts of the worlds of Yav, Nav, and Vyrii, exploring themes of duty, honor, and keeping one's word.