Janice Kulyk Keefer b.

1952
TORONTO, ONTARIO
No writer, no matter how passionately she identifies with a particular community,
ethnic or otherwise, can transparently and comprehensively project the views and voices
of that community in her writingIt is the task of the writer to situate herself off-centre
from her own well as communicate what she knows of it, says Janice ulyk eefer! "nd
this is the position from which she writes, a position of am#ivalence and, partly, the result
of her up#ringing as a hyphenated $anadian, the child of immigrants!
Nici o scriitoare, nepunnd la socoteal pasiunea cu care se identific !n
cadrul unei anu"ite co"unit#i, etnice sau de alt natur, nu !$i poate proiecta !ntr%
un "od clar $i cinstit "entalit#ile $i &ocile respecti&ei co"unit#i !n opera sa' (ste
de datoria scriitoarei s se situe)e oarecu" !n afara propriei sale co"unit#i pentru
a putea fi capa*il s co"unice $i s critice !n acela$i ti"p tot ceea ce $tie despre ea
+co"unitatea,, este de prere Janice Kulyk Keefer' Aceasta este po)i#ia de pe care
scrie, una de a"*i&alen# $i, !ntr%o "ic "sur, re)ultatul educa#iei-cre$terii ei
ase"enea unui strin naturali)at canadian-cu cet#enie canadian, copilul
i"i.ran#ilor'
%orn in &oronto, she grew up with the fact that 'her( mothers e)perience as an
immigrant, whose family had emigrated from a village in *oland that is now part of
+kraine, was a very painful one, for psychological as well as economic reasons! "s a
young woman, ulyk eefer was convinced that only people with names like ,mith or
-ac*herson could #e pu#lished and read in this country.a #elief that led me, as she
says, to think and write, for the most part, in what I understood to #e the manner of a
,mith or -ac*herson! &he we#s of otherness within which she moved as a child
continue to haunt her! ,he has attri#uted part of the reason she wanted to study and live
outside of $anada to her am#ivalent feelings of #eing seen as ethnic!
Nscut !n Toronto, ea a crescut cu ideea c e/perien#a "a"ei ca i"i.rant, a
crei fa"ilii a e"i.rat dintr%un sat polone), !n pre)ent o parte a 0crainei, a fost una
foarte dureroas, att din punct de &edere-pe plan psi1olo.ic, ct $i financiar' 2a
tnr fe"eie, Janice Kulyk Keefer a fost con&ins de faptul c doar persoane cu
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nu"e ca 3"it1 sau 4ac51erson puteau fi pu*licate $i citite !n aceast #ar 6 o
prere-con&in.ere care "%a deter"inat, a$a cu" ea !ns$i declar, s .ndesc $i s
scriu, !n cea "ai "are parte, !n ce a" !n#eles a fi "aniera unui 3"it1 sau
4ac51erson' 7e.turile diferen#elor !n interiorul crora se "i$ca ase"enea unui
copil continu s o *ntuie' (a $i%a "oti&at par#ial ale.erea fcut pentru care a
dorit s studie)e $i s triasc !n afara .rani#elor 2anadei prin senti"entele
contradictorii care o !ncercau ca fiind perceput ca etnic'
0ollowing her %" in 1nglish from the +niversity of &oronto 2/3456, and with a
$ommonwealth ,cholarship, she studied at the +niversity of ,usse) where she earned an
-" and a *h7 in 1nglish! 8er determination to #ecome a writer made her aware of the
kind of foreigner she had #ecome to her own literary tradition9 I was discouraged at the
university 'in $anada( from reading $anadian writing, and encouraged to read "merican
or %ritish! "nd so I was really :uite patroni;ing in my attitude toward my own culture!
A ur"at studiile de licen# !n en.le) ale 0ni&ersit#ii din Toronto 8199:;, $i
cu o *urs 2o""on<ealt1, a studiat la 0ni&ersitatea din 3usse/ de unde a o*#inut
diplo"e de "asterat $i dictorat !n en.le)' =eter"inarea- >otrrea prin care dorea
s de&in scriitoare a fcut%o con$tient de tipolo.ia de strin8; care a de&enit
propria sa tradi#ie literar? @7a uni&ersitate +!n 2anada, a" fost descuraAat s 8nu;
citesc scrieri canadiene, $i !ncuraAat s citesc scrieri a"ericane sau en.le)e' Bi astfel
a" tratat-adoptat 8cu; o oarecare atitudine protecti& fa# de propria "ea cultur'C
ulyk eefer launched her career as writer with the pu#lication of a collection of
poetry, White of the Lesser Angels 2/3<=6, and a collection of short stories, The Paris-
Napoli Express 2/3<=6, having already won the $%$ >adio ?iterary $ompetition 0irst
*ri;e 2/3<@, /3<=6!
Kulyk Keefer $i%a lansat cariera literar cu pu*licarea unei colec#ii de poe)ii,
White of the Lesser Angels 819DE;, $i a unei colec#ii de po&estiri, c$ti.nd deAa 2F2
Radio 7iterary 2o"petition Girst 5ri)e 819D5, 19DE;'
8er stories a#out e)patriate $anadians in 1urope and 1uropeans living in $anada
reflect the critical distance she #elieves a writer ought to keep from her #ackground!
$onversely, Transfigurations 2/3<46, a collection of short fiction, and Constellations
2/3<<6, a novel, are #oth set in Nova ,cotia, where ulyk eefer taught 1nglish for ten
years at the +niversitA ,ainte-"nne 2/3<B-3B6! ?ike her fictive imagination, her critical
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sensi#ility, too, focuses on figures and issues of am#ivalence as is evident in Under
Eastern Eyes: A Critical Reading of Canadian ariti!e "iction 2/3<46, nominated for
the Dovernor Denerals "ward for non-fiction, and Reading a#is $allant 2/3<36! "
*rofessor of 1nglish and creative writing at the +niversity of Duelph since /33B, ulyk
eefers writing displays her concern with indeterminacy, a condition that characteri;es
many of her journeying characters in the short story many collection, Tra#elling Ladies
2/33B6! 8er memoir, %oney and Ashes: A &tory of "a!ily 2/33<6, tracks her familys
journey from +kraine to $anada, while 'ar( $host in the Corner: )!agining U(rainian-
Canadian )dentity 2CBB@6 offers a historical and critical perspective of +krainian
immigration!
5o&e$tile ei despre canadieni e/patria#i !n (uropa $i europeni care triesc !n
2anada reflect distan#a critic pe care ea crede c un scriitor ar tre*ui s o
pstre)e !ntre ea $i ori.ini' =i"potri&, ac#iunea Transfigurations 819D9;, o colec#ie
de po&estiri, $i ro"anului Constellations 819DD; se desf$oar !n No&a 3cotia, unde
Kulyk Keefer a predat en.le)a ti"p de 1H ani la 0ni&ersitI 3ainte%Anne 819DH%9H;'
Ase"enea i"a.ina#iei sale fic#ionale, sensi*ilitatea critic se concentrea), de
ase"enea, pe fi.uri situa#ii contradictorii, a$a cu" este e&ident !n Under Eastern
Eyes: A Critical Reading of Canadian Maritime Fiction 819D9;, scriere no"inali)at la
cate.oria non%fic#iune din cadrul Jo&ernor JeneralKs A<ard, $i Reading Mais
!allant 819D9;' 5rofesor de en.le) $i scriere creati& la 0ni&ersitatea din Juelp1
pn !n 199H, scrierile lui Kulyk Keefer arat preocuparea ei pentru lipsa de
deter"inare, o condi#ie caracteristic "ultora dintre personaAele sale de cltorie !n
colec#ia de po&estiri Traelling Ladies 8199H;' 4e"oriile, intitulate "oney and
Ashes: A #tory of Family 8199D;, ur"resc traiectoria cltoriei fa"iliei sale din
0craina pn !n 2anada, !n ti"p ce $ar% !host in the Corner: &magining U%rainian'
Canadian &dentity 82HH5; ofer o perspecti& istoric $i critic a i"i.ra#iei ucrainene'
7espite her resistance to the marginali;ing effect of the la#el of ethnicity, or
perhaps #ecause of it, ulyk eefer participated in the de#ates a#out multiculturalism in
the early /33Bs! ?amenting the use of the term multicultural in speak'ing( of a group of
people, or of a writer, she argues for the need to employ a new term to denote those
literary works in which a writers ancestral country or culture seems as important as the
country in which he or she actually resides! &he term she proposes, one also preferred #y
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such writers as Fen %egamudrA, is transculturalism, a concept that #rings out the
dynamic potential of cultural diversity, the possi#ility of e)change and change among and
with different ethnocultural groups!
Ln ciuda !"potri&irii sale !n fa#a inutilit#ii etic1etei etnicit#ii, sau poate
datorit acesteia, Kulyk Keefer a luat parte la de)*ateri despre "ulticulturalis" la
!nceputul anilor K9H' Recla"nd folosirea ter"enului de "ulticultural8is"; atunci
cnd se &or*e$te despre un .rup de persoane, sau un scriitor, ea pledea) pentru
ne&oia de a an.aAa un nou ter"en 8care; s dese"ne)e-8de;nu"easc acele scrieri
literare !n care #ara sau cultura ancestral a unui scriitor par la fel de i"portante ca
#ara !n care el sau ea trie$te de fapt' Ter"enul pe care ea !l propune, unul preferat
$i de scriitori ca Men Fe.a"udrI
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, este transculturalis", un concept care e&iden#ia)
poten#ialul dina"ic al di&ersit#ii culturale, posi*ilitatea de sc1i"* $i !nlocuire
printre $i cu 8aAutorul; diferitelor-alturi de .rupuri etnoculturale'
Ginner of &he -alahat ?ong *oem *ri;e, and of two National -aga;ine "ward
0irst *ri;es 2/33B, /3356, she pu#lished another poetry volume, arrying the &ea 2/33<6,
which won the $anadian "uthors "ssociation "ward 2/3336, as well as a juvenile fiction
#ook, Anna*s $oat 2CBBB6! &he recipient of the -arian 1ngel "ward, ulyk eefer has so
far pu#lished four novels, Constellations 2/3<<6, Rest %arro+ 2/33C6, The $reen Li,rary
2/33=6, a finalist for the Dovernor Denerals "ward, and Thie#es 2CBB56, a lyrical and
elegant narrative of the New Healand short story writer atherine -ansfield!
2$ti.toare a T1e 4ala1at 7on. 5oe" 5ri)e, $i a dou National 4a.a)ine
A<ard Girst 5ri)es 8199H, 199:;, a pu*licat un alt &olu" de poe)ie, Marrying the #ea
8199D;, c$ti.tor al 2anadian Aut1ors Association A<ard 81999;, precu" $i o carte
de fic#iune petru adolescen#i, Anna(s !oat 82HHH;' 2$ti.toare a 4arian (n.el
A<ard, Kulyk Keefer a pu*licat pn acu" patru ro"ane, Constellations 819DD;,
Rest "arro) 81992;, The !reen Library 8199E;, finalist al Jo&ernor JeneralKs A<ard,
$i Thiees 82HH:;, o nara#iune liric ele.ant a scriitoarei de po&estiri neo%)eelande)e
Kat1erine 4ansfield'
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+n scriitor canadian de romane Ii scurte povestiri, nJscut Kn /3@=!
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