National History as Cultural Process

Description

There has long been a need in historiographical studies for a reliable guide to and summary of the major interpretations of the Ukrainian past. This is the task undertaken in the present work, in which Dr. Stephen Velychenko reviews more than two hundred specialized monographs in Ukrainian history. He examines not only the works of prominent scholars but also the textbooks that determined the images of the Ukrainian past held by successive generations of students and general readers. Dr. Velychenko argues on the interpretations presented in textbooks and survey histories, whose basic conceptual schema were determined by social factors, political events, and prevailing intellectual trends.

The book is particularly valuable for its comparative perspective. The author treats the main corpus of Polish, Russian, and Ukrainian historical scholarship about Ukraine, concentrating on significant episodes in relations among these nations and showing how their interpretations in historical writing contributed to each nation’s image of Ukraine and Ukraine’s image of them.

National History as Cultural Process is illustrated with plates and maps and includes detailed bibliographies of works cited, as well as an index of names.