{{Short description|Canadian professor of folklore}} '''Natalie Kononenko''' was Professor and Kule Chair in Ukrainian Ethnography at the [[University of Alberta]]<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Kule Folklore Centre |date=2019 |title=Directors Annual Report for the Kule Folklore Centre |url=https://www.ualberta.ca/en/kule-folklore-centre/media-library/documents/annual-reports/kufc-annual-report-2019.pdf}}</ref> until 2019, after which she is a Professor Emerita.<ref name="2020 report">{{Cite web |last=Kule Folklore Centre |date=2020 |title=Directors Annual Report for the Kule Folklore Centre |url=https://www.ualberta.ca/en/kule-folklore-centre/media-library/documents/annual-reports/kufc-annual-report-2020.pdf}}</ref> Kononenko is a major contributor to the study of Ukrainian blind minstrels as well as in the area of [[witchcraft]] in Slavic cultures. She attended [[Radcliffe College]] and [[Harvard University]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ualberta.ca/arts/about/people-collection/natalie-kononenko|title = People Listing &#124; Faculty of Arts}}</ref>

Her 1997 book ''Ukrainian Minstrels: And the Blind Shall Sing'' is a study of traditional Ukrainian blind, begging singers known as ''[[kobzar]]'' and [[Lirnyk|''lirnyky'']], who sang epic poetry called [[Duma (epic)|duma]]. The book links these blind [[Minstrel|minstrels]] to religious practice, and for the first time showed how women minstrels were also important to this oral, epic tradition.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Klymasz |first=Robert B. |date=1999 |title=Ukrainian Minstrels: And the Blind Shall Sing. By Natalie Kononenko. Armonk, N.Y.: M. E. Sharpe, 1998. xvi, 360 pp. Appendix. Notes. Bibliography. Index. Photographs. Tables. Map. $62.95, hard bound. $25.95, paper. |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0037677900055455/type/journal_article |journal=Slavic Review |language=en |volume=58 |issue=2 |pages=475–476 |doi=10.2307/2673104 |issn=0037-6779|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The tradition of the blind minstrel is also connected to traditions in other cultures: for example the ancient Greek poet [[Homer]] is often described as blind.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Rahkonen |first=Carl |date=2000 |title=Review of Ukrainian Minstrels: And the Blind Shall Sing |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/852541 |journal=Ethnomusicology |volume=44 |issue=2 |pages=339–341 |doi=10.2307/852541 |issn=0014-1836|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The first part of the book documents minstrels from 1850 to 1930,<ref name=":1" /> while the second part of the book contains translations of songs, intitation rites and descriptions of religious festivals.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Bailey |first=James |date=1999 |title=Review of Ukrainian Minstrels: And the Blind Shall Sing |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/309876 |journal=The Slavic and East European Journal |volume=43 |issue=3 |pages=551–552 |doi=10.2307/309876 |issn=0037-6752|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The book was praised as a significant contribution to the study of [[oral literature]],<ref name=":2" /> but was also criticised for focusing on the lyrics and not the musical aspects of the tradition.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Noll |first=William |date=2000 |title=Review: Ukrainian Minstrels: And the Blind Shall Sing |journal=Journal of Ukrainian Studies |volume=25 |issue=1-2 |pages=237}}</ref>

In 2019, she published the book ''Ukrainian Epic and Historical Song: Folklore in Context'', which was reviewed in several scholarly journals.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rubchak |first=Marian J. |date=2020 |title=Ukrainian Epic and Historical Song: Folklore in Context. By Natalie Kononenko. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2019. xvi, 330 pp. Notes. Bibliography. Index. $85.00, hard bound. |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0037677920001175/type/journal_article |journal=Slavic Review |language=en |volume=79 |issue=2 |pages=454–455 |doi=10.1017/slr.2020.117 |issn=0037-6779|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rubchak |first=Marian J. |date=2020 |title=Ukrainian Epic and Historical Song: Folklore in Context. By Natalie Kononenko. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2019. xvi, 330 pp. Notes. Bibliography. Index. $85.00, hard bound. |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0037677920001175/type/journal_article |journal=Slavic Review |language=en |volume=79 |issue=2 |pages=454–455 |doi=10.1017/slr.2020.117 |issn=0037-6779|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rubchak |first=Marian J. |date=2020 |title=Review of Ukrainian Epic and Historical Song: Folklore in Context |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27059179 |journal=Slavic Review |volume=79 |issue=2 |pages=454–455 |issn=0037-6779}}</ref>

Her 2025 book ''Ukrainian Ritual on the Prairies: Growing a Ukrainian Canadian Identity'' is about Ukrainian immigrants to Canada from the 1890s through the early 20th century.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lehr |first=John |date=2025 |title=Review: Natalie Kononenko. Ukrainian Ritual on the Prairies: Growing a Ukrainian Canadian Identity. McGill-Queen's University Press. xii, 308. $34.95 |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/969789. |journal=University of Toronto Quarterly |volume=94 |issue=3}}</ref> The book drew upon her work from 2009-2019 with a group that documented Ukrainian churches, where they gathered photographs and hundreds of hours of interviews.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Petersen |first=Julia |date=2023-09-27 |title=Kononenko documents Ukrainian-Canadian folkore, culture - Prince Albert Daily Herald |url=https://paherald.sk.ca/kononenko-documents-ukrainian-canadian-folkore-culture/ |access-date=2026-05-09 |website=Price Albert Daily Herald |language=en-CA}}</ref>

==Publications==

=== Books === * Kononenko, N. (1990) ''The Turkish Minstrel Tale Tradition''. Garland Publishing Inc. {{ISBN|978-0-8240-2673-8}} * Kononenko, N. (1997) ''Ukrainian Minstrels: And the Blind Shall Sing''. M.E. Sharpe. {{ISBN|978-0-7656-0144-5}} * Suwyn, B. (1997) ''The Magic Egg and Other Tales from Ukraine.'' Edited and with an introduction by N. Kononenko. Libraries Unlimited, Inc. {{ISBN|1-56308-425-2}} * Kononenko, N. (2007) ''Slavic Folklore: A Handbook''. Greenwood Press. {{ISBN|978-0-313-33610-2}} * Holloway, P., & Kukharenko, S. (2012). ''The Paths of Folklore: Essays in Honor of Natalie Kononeko''. {{ISBN|978-0893573935}} * Kononenko, N. (2019). ''Ukrainian Epic and Historical Song: Folklore in Context''. University of Toronto Press.{{ISBN|978-1487502638}} * Kononenko, N. (2023). ''Ukrainian Ritual on the Prairies: Growing a Ukrainian Canadian Identity''. {{ISBN|978-0228016816}}

=== Journals and Periodicals ===

* Natalie Kononenko; The Politics of innocence: Soviet and Post-Soviet Animation on Folklore topics. ''Journal of American Folklore'' 1 October 2011; 124 (494): 272–294. doi: <nowiki>https://doi.org/10.5406/jamerfolk.124.494.0272</nowiki>

== See also == * [[Blind musicians]] * [[Bandurist]] * [[Duma (epic)]] * [[Ukrainian fairy tale]] * [[History of Ukrainian animation|History of Ukrainian Animation]]

==References== <references />

== External links == * Natalie Kononenko: Faculty of Arts page at University of Alberta https://www.ualberta.ca/en/kule-folklore-centre/about/people/natalie-kononenko.html * List of papers on Academia https://ualberta.academia.edu/NatalieKononenko] * Folklore Ukraine https://www.artsrn.ualberta.ca/folkloreukraine/

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kononenko, Natalie}} [[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Academic staff of the University of Alberta]] [[Category:Radcliffe College alumni]]

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