Kanadiiskyi farmer : poetry in Canada's first Ukrainian newspaper

Abstract

This is a study of the poetry written by Ukrainian immigrants and published in Kanadiiskyi farmer, the first Ukrainian newspaper in Canada, during the period from 1905 to 1910. It provides an analysis of representative works out of a total of 127 poems written by 63 poets. It describes the poetry under the major themes of Oppression/Exploitation in Ukraine, Nostalgia/Homesickness/Pioneer Hardships, New Life in Canada, Patriotism, Education, Need for Collective Action, Improving morals, and other everyday themes. The complete Ukrainian text of the 127 poems is included in an appendix. The thesis argues that newspaper poetry was an important tool used by the Ukrainian immigrant leadership in their quest for advancement of their people in Canada, and that newspaper poetry is a rich source of information on the Ukrainian immigrants and is therefore worthy of scholarly attention.