VOICING THE IMMIGRANT

VOICING THE IMMIGRANT

Dialogue Bubbles

Sequenced panels separated by gutters and dialogue bubbles are stereotypical visual characteristics that define Uncle’s Book as a collection of comics. Dialogue bubbles and thought balloons give a voice and consciousness to the characters (Gravett, 26). The reader can see what the characters are saying and thinking. In Uncle’s Book, the bubbles and Cyrillic font are one of the most notable visual elements that contribute to the ethnic and socio-economic identity of the stories. “Language is the best example of intercultural space” (Risner, 42), and it is from the ‘spoken’ words in Uncle’s Book that we hear Slavic or Germanic accents or the immigrant slang that places us in North End Winnipeg (D142). Maydanyk capitalized on the affordance of comics and their ability to project language and convey immigrant identity via verbal dialogue.

Maydanyk wrote the narrative using a Cyrillic font associated with Slavic languages, in this case, Ukrainian. However, this does not mean Maydanyk wrote the language entirely in Ukrainian. Whereas the Cyrillic alphabet is phonetic, each letter can be assigned to a sound from any language. For example, the letter “ю” sounds like “you,” and when spoken out loud, the letters “ю но ґуд” become “you no good” (Comic #2, Panel-9). Uncle Shtif and his cohort communicated in a multilingual, macaronic[1] language that reflected the voice of an immigrant navigating linguistic challenges in a multi-ethnic community. By using the Cyrillic alphabet, Maydanyk mirrored the voices he heard in the streets as newcomers interacted with each other and attempted to learn English.

The base language and syntax are Ukrainian - Maydanyk’s mother tongue. However, with the inclusion of English and the occasional German, Polish, and Russian words, Maydanyk expressed the richness of the language spoken within many early Ukrainian settlements in Canada. Creating Uncle Shtif’s hybrid dialogue was somewhat intuitive for the author/illustrator. He was from Western Ukraine, which at one time or another bordered Poland, Russia, Austria, Romania, and Hungary, and shared fluid linguistic boundaries for hundreds of years (Martynowych 1983, 13-19). Upon arriving in Canada, the addition of the English language enriched the linguistic mix. This linguistic diversity was the spoken vernacular of the time. Vernacularization of text is one of the major contributing factors to the rise of national consciousness and literacy - “… if it is written in the common language, it will be read, and ultimately discussed”. Before the digital era, “print languages [not necessarily just text] created unified fields of exchange and communication” (Anderson 44). Adding to the cornucopia of vocabulary, the language on the street was macaronic. One could hear Ukrainian endings added to English words to facilitate a flow of conversation and understanding among those engaged in dialogue. For example, in Comic #3, panel-1: [з]мухувати ([z]move-u-vaty) [to move], in Comic #5, panel-1: ґадеувати (god-dam-u-vaty) [to god-dam], and Comic #6, panel-2: квітуюсє (quit-u-you-se) [I quit]. See Appendix 4 – Glossary for more examples specific to Uncle’s Book[2].

Maydanyk’s dialogues captured the ‘code switching’ between multilingual speakers who shared two or more languages. Uncle Shtif and Nasha Meri were a reflection of an interlingual space (Risner, 43). It was interesting to find out that, although written in a Cyrillic font, if the dialogue was spoken out loud, the audience would hear multiple languages. Maydanyk meant for the characters to represent Anglo phones, speaking English, and others of Galician heritage threw in Polish words, and Uncle Shtif was attempting to respond in broken English. These conversations provide a concrete perspective based on the author’s personal experience, adding to the plausibility of the characters (Risner 52-53).

Based on my word count, I have estimated that the overall language content of Uncle’s Book is approximately 86% Ukrainian, 13% English, and 1% other. Percentages vary depending on the theme of the story. For example, Comic #24 - “Цалий світ не має розуму” [The Whole World Has No Brains] (64-65), is set in one of the country schools where Maydanyk taught (possibly Olha, MB; D16). Most students speak Ukrainian; the teacher speaks Ukrainian, as does Uncle Shtif. Therefore, the narrative is 99% Ukrainian, except for two words spoken by Uncle Shtif: “Hо” [No] and “Cей” [Say]. By contrast, in Comic #5, “Як Штіф з Айришом файтувався” [When Shtif fought with an Irishman] (23-24), the language is spoken by Uncle, and the Irishman is 83% Ukrainian and 17% English. In Comic #4 -“Вуйко Штіф у Виннипеґу” [Uncle Shtif in Winnipeg], which takes place on the streets of Winnipeg, the language distribution is 69% Ukrainian, 13% English, and 18% German (21-22). Notably, in any reference to activities of soldiers, such as marching (8) or lining up for inspection (22), the reader will find that the commands spoken by the characters are primarily in German/Austrian, a reflection of life within the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

In addition to expressing language and portraying verbal dialogue, the speech bubbles reinforce the effect of time passing within each panel. In a spoken dialogue, one utterance follows the next, marking time from the beginning to the end of a conversation. The same occurs in a comics dialogue. A comment, represented by a dialogue bubble, is followed by the next bubble and the next as the story progresses (Gravett, 26). When several dialogue bubbles are placed close together, the reader can assume that the characters are jabbering. When spaced further apart, the bubbles indicate a fraction of time has passed between each statement. And if bubbles from two or more characters are stacked on top of each other, we know they are all talking at the same time. However, Maydanyk did not always adhere to these visual cues when constructing the dialogue in Uncle’s Book. There are times when the answer to a question is positioned before the question is asked, and the reader sees the answer before reading the question (e.g. Comic #3, panel 2). Also, there are cases where characters were not drawn in sequence, and the bubbles appear in the wrong order. So the logical progression of the conversation is disrupted. For anyone familiar with reading comics, it can be off-putting if the dialogue sequence is out of order. Why Maydanyk switched the order of a conversation is not readily apparent. However, on close examination of the panels, it appears that he may have been more concerned with balancing the visual composition rather than facilitating a flow to the narrative.

Maydanyk’s publication may not have been perfect, but it had results. On the one hand, Maydanyk was poking fun at the multilingual language spoken by immigrants and getting laughs. On the other, the illiterate were encouraged to read and educate themselves about current affairs. In a ‘hybrid’ or ‘multi-modal’ form, the visual and verbal elements work together to make meaning (Rifkind 2019.) Maydanyk may not have been consciously aware of it, but the pedagogical affordances of comics define this literary genre as one that encourages reading. For many early immigrants from Ukraine, Uncle Shtif Tabachniuk looked, acted, and sounded highly familiar; by way of familiarity, a connection was made that motivated them to read. “In many cases, Maydanyk’s comics were the first stories that they could read” (Farkevec, 6).

Appendix 5 is an English translation of Вуйкова книга [Uncle’s Book].