APPENDIX 5

This is a DRAFT of an English translation of Jacob Maydanyk's Uncle's Book. Ksenia Maryniak, Lesia Savedchuk, and John-Paul Himka assisted in bringing the words of the bygone era to life. There were challenges to translating a comic book written in a macaronic (multilingual) language spoken one hundred years ago, some yet to be resolved. Unfortunately, the generations that spoke this dialect are no longer with us to confirm the meaning of many terms and phrases common in 1930. Also, Maydanyk was inconsistent in spelling, and his handwritten text was often illegible. So, at times, the uncertainty of even one letter changed the entire meaning of the text. For fun and to help understand Uncle Shtif's language, access to a glossary is provided below.

In addition, the comics format in itself is difficult to translate. A common issue is the limited space within a dialogue bubble. A translated phrase is often longer than the original language, and the spacing becomes challenging. For this draft, rather than replacing Ukrainian, a choice was made to add English above each bubble in a less constrained layout.

Another conscious decision was to accommodate each story all on one page, which was achieved by changing the format from landscape to portrait. Publication is pending following a final edit.

Click on the cover below to begin reading.