Cultural Studies Perspective on the Phenomenon of Ukrainian Cultural and Artistic Societies in Western Ukrainian Lands (1921 – 1939)

From the Stalinist Ukrainian SSR to Independent Ukraine

Bibliographic Data

ID22217599
AuthorsH V Vdovychenko (0000-0002-8532-7672, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv), Bogdan Pavlichenko (0009-0009-8531-4407, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv)
Year2026
Issue1 (18)
Pages4-15
Publication date2026-05-29
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueUKRAINIAN CULTURAL STUDIES (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2616-9967 • E-ISSN: 2616-9975
PublisherTaras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (PUBLISHER • UA)
DOI10.17721/ucs.2026.1(18).01
OpenAlexW7163695484
LanguageEN
References cited8

Background. The complex period of Ukraine's history during the era of the Versailles–Washington international order was marked by the active work of cultural and artistic societies and other associations in the Western Ukrainian lands in 1921–1939. Their role as actors in Ukrainian cultural, national, and state-building processes was repeatedly silenced and falsified in the Ukrainian SSR, but today it is becoming a full-fledged subject of cultural-historical and cultural studies research. The article aims to provide a general assessment of the main trends in the study of the phenomenon of Ukrainian cultural and artistic societies in the Western Ukrainian lands (1921–1939) by cultural historians and cultural studies scholars of the Ukrainian SSR and independent Ukraine (mid-20th century – first quarter of the 21st century). Methods. The study employs classical and modern methods of cultural analysis. Along with the basic principles of scientific knowledge, such as objectivity, systematicity, and historicism, it applies the comparative-historical method to explore the stages in the study of Ukrainian cultural and artistic societies, as well as biographical analysis of the scholars who researched them and contextual and situational analysis of their works. Results. The study highlights the main results of the analysis of cultural and artistic societies by cultural historians and cultural studies scholars during the following stages: 1. the post-war stage — from the end of the Second World War to the collapse of the USSR (1945–1991), which includes four periods: the final phase of Stalinism, the Khrushchev "Thaw", the period of "stagnation", and "Perestroika"; 2. the contemporary stage (since 1991), comprising three periods: the post-Soviet period, the period of the "people's revolutions" (2004–2014), and the period of the Russian–Ukrainian war. The study of this phenomenon began in the 1960s–1970s within the first major projects of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR devoted to the history of Ukrainian literature and art. The project "History of Ukrainian Culture: in 5 vols". (2001–2013), along with other Ukrainian studies initiatives of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and scholars from higher education institutions, laid the foundations for its objective and innovative interdisciplinary study by researchers in this field. Conclusions. After being suppressed and criticized in the Ukrainian SSR, limited information about this phenomenon began to be reintroduced into scholarly discourse during the "Thaw." The sharp criticism of most of these societies as "bourgeois-nationalist" was gradually replaced, during "Perestroika," by de-ideologization and a more objective study of the phenomenon. The publication in Ukraine since 1991 of academic humanities projects, primarily Ukrainian studies encyclopedic editions and monographs on the history of Ukrainian culture, initiated cultural studies research focused on the role of these societies in the gender-based, regional, and national self-identification of Ukrainians, as well as in the practices of cultural and intercultural communication and cultural institutionalization

Cultural history · Phenomenon · Situational ethics · Ukrainian · Cultural Studies · Military, Security, and Education Studies · Scientific Research and Studies · Ukrainian Cultural and Linguistic Studies

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