Langford novelist explores B.C.’s Doukhobor culture
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Langford novelist explores B.C.’s Doukhobor culture
| Jon_Kalmakoff (View posts) | Posted: 29 Sep 2007 2:54AM GMT |
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Reproduced from the Goldstream News Gazette, Sep 28 2007:
Langford novelist explores B.C.’s Doukhobor culture
By Rick Stiebel
News staff
Sep 28 2007
For most people, the Doukhobors are synonymous with burning barns or farm folk protesting in the nude, or both.
Langford author Bill Stenson’s latest book, however, takes a deeper look at a people and culture that remain for the most part shrouded in mystery.
When asked why he chose the topic, Stenson, who has no family connection to the Doukhobors, blames the voices in his head.
After he completed Translating Women, a collection of short stories published by Thistledown Press in 2004, Stenson promised himself he would spend a week figuring out what to do next.
“I woke up the next day and a voice in my head said ‘you need to do a Doukhobor novel,’” said Stenson, a retired teacher who’s been writing for 20 years. “The voice wouldn’t go away.”
Stenson poured 16 months into researching the novel, including making two trips to the Kootenays, where he spoke to not only Doukhabors, but people who had lived with them and people who had written about them.
Stenson soon found out that the Freedomites, a small Doukhobor sect, were responsible for much of the stereotypical perceptions surrounding the group of people who came to Canada to escape the persecution they endured in their Russian homeland at the turn of the century.
“The Freedomites comprised only five per cent of the Doukhobor population in B.C., but they got all the press,” Stenson said.
“Svoboda (the book’s title), is a Russian word for freedom or liberty,” said Stenson, who taught for 34 years in everything from one-room schoolhouses through to elementary, middle and high school — the last 16 at Claremont secondary school in Saanich. “Svoboda represents what they thought they were coming to North America for.”
The proceeds from Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy’s Resurrection, published in 1889, went toward getting the Doukhobors out of Russia, Stenson noted.
Stenson’s fictional novel chronicles the struggles three generations of Doukhobors face trying to fit into Canadian society.
The Doukhobors lived communally, mostly settling in the Kootenays, where education and language issues posed significant barriers, Stenson explained.
As well, because of the persecution they had suffered in their homeland at the hands of the ruling class, Doukhobors were by nature “very suspicious and cautious of anything to do with the government,” he added.
Stenson’s book follows the life of Vasili Saprikin, a young Doukhobor living in the Kootenays from the age of five to 17.
His grandfather, Alexa Barakoff — one of the first wave of immigrants to Canada — plays a central role in exposing the Doukhobor culture to Vasili, taking him into the mountains to immerse the boy in a culture that will always be a part of their past.
“The kid eats up the stories and wants to connect with his history,” Stenson said.
Vasili, however, becomes one of many Doukhobor children rounded up and forced to attend a residential school in New Denver, where visits from family are restricted to every second Sunday.
“They could only speak through a wire fence ... no touching, no direct contact,” Stenson said.
The boy’s mother, Anuta — “ a strong-willed woman for her time” — faces the same struggles trying to adapt to a new country and culture, with the additional burden of the loss of her child.
Although Stenson was born in the Kootenay region in Nelson, he had virtually no exposure to the Doukhobor culture because he grew up in the Cowichan Valley after his family moved to Vancouver Island when he was five.
He was surprised to hear about the Vancouver Island Doukhobor Choir six weeks ago, and thrilled when they agreed to take part in the launch of his book Sept. 29 from 7 to 9 p.m. at Fairfield United Church at 1303 Fairfield Rd. in Victoria.
“They’re gems of human beings and very excited to be part of this,” said Stenson, who stressed the free event is more of a cultural happening than a book launch.
“They’re going to sing five songs and speak about their culture and experiences,” said Stenson, who will do a brief reading from the beginning of Svoboda.
“I want people to get a sense of what the Doukhobor people are about,” Stenson said. “I want to demystify the bad press in my opinion that they’ve received.”
He’s preparing some traditional Doukhobor cuisine for the occasion, including a heaping helping of borscht.
http://www.goldstreamgazette.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper...
Langford novelist explores B.C.’s Doukhobor culture
By Rick Stiebel
News staff
Sep 28 2007
For most people, the Doukhobors are synonymous with burning barns or farm folk protesting in the nude, or both.
Langford author Bill Stenson’s latest book, however, takes a deeper look at a people and culture that remain for the most part shrouded in mystery.
When asked why he chose the topic, Stenson, who has no family connection to the Doukhobors, blames the voices in his head.
After he completed Translating Women, a collection of short stories published by Thistledown Press in 2004, Stenson promised himself he would spend a week figuring out what to do next.
“I woke up the next day and a voice in my head said ‘you need to do a Doukhobor novel,’” said Stenson, a retired teacher who’s been writing for 20 years. “The voice wouldn’t go away.”
Stenson poured 16 months into researching the novel, including making two trips to the Kootenays, where he spoke to not only Doukhabors, but people who had lived with them and people who had written about them.
Stenson soon found out that the Freedomites, a small Doukhobor sect, were responsible for much of the stereotypical perceptions surrounding the group of people who came to Canada to escape the persecution they endured in their Russian homeland at the turn of the century.
“The Freedomites comprised only five per cent of the Doukhobor population in B.C., but they got all the press,” Stenson said.
“Svoboda (the book’s title), is a Russian word for freedom or liberty,” said Stenson, who taught for 34 years in everything from one-room schoolhouses through to elementary, middle and high school — the last 16 at Claremont secondary school in Saanich. “Svoboda represents what they thought they were coming to North America for.”
The proceeds from Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy’s Resurrection, published in 1889, went toward getting the Doukhobors out of Russia, Stenson noted.
Stenson’s fictional novel chronicles the struggles three generations of Doukhobors face trying to fit into Canadian society.
The Doukhobors lived communally, mostly settling in the Kootenays, where education and language issues posed significant barriers, Stenson explained.
As well, because of the persecution they had suffered in their homeland at the hands of the ruling class, Doukhobors were by nature “very suspicious and cautious of anything to do with the government,” he added.
Stenson’s book follows the life of Vasili Saprikin, a young Doukhobor living in the Kootenays from the age of five to 17.
His grandfather, Alexa Barakoff — one of the first wave of immigrants to Canada — plays a central role in exposing the Doukhobor culture to Vasili, taking him into the mountains to immerse the boy in a culture that will always be a part of their past.
“The kid eats up the stories and wants to connect with his history,” Stenson said.
Vasili, however, becomes one of many Doukhobor children rounded up and forced to attend a residential school in New Denver, where visits from family are restricted to every second Sunday.
“They could only speak through a wire fence ... no touching, no direct contact,” Stenson said.
The boy’s mother, Anuta — “ a strong-willed woman for her time” — faces the same struggles trying to adapt to a new country and culture, with the additional burden of the loss of her child.
Although Stenson was born in the Kootenay region in Nelson, he had virtually no exposure to the Doukhobor culture because he grew up in the Cowichan Valley after his family moved to Vancouver Island when he was five.
He was surprised to hear about the Vancouver Island Doukhobor Choir six weeks ago, and thrilled when they agreed to take part in the launch of his book Sept. 29 from 7 to 9 p.m. at Fairfield United Church at 1303 Fairfield Rd. in Victoria.
“They’re gems of human beings and very excited to be part of this,” said Stenson, who stressed the free event is more of a cultural happening than a book launch.
“They’re going to sing five songs and speak about their culture and experiences,” said Stenson, who will do a brief reading from the beginning of Svoboda.
“I want people to get a sense of what the Doukhobor people are about,” Stenson said. “I want to demystify the bad press in my opinion that they’ve received.”
He’s preparing some traditional Doukhobor cuisine for the occasion, including a heaping helping of borscht.
http://www.goldstreamgazette.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper...