new book examines Ukrainian-Russian relations

[Natalia Pylypiuk]

Andreas Kappeler, Zenon E. Kohut, Frank E. Sysyn, and Mark von Hagen, eds.,
Culture, Nation, and Identity: The Ukrainian-Russian Encounter (1600-1945)
(CIUS Press, 2003),  xiv, 381 pp.

Throughout Ukraine's turbulent history, its cultural and national
identity and political fate were shaped and, in many instances,
determined by the nature of its relations with neighbouring states
and peoples. It is impossible to understand Ukrainian history without
a grasp of the cultural, social, and political relations between
Ukrainians and Russians, Poles, Germans, Belarusians, Hungarians,
Romanians, and other East and Central European nationalities. [...]

Culture, Nation, and Identity: The Ukrainian-Russian Encounter
(1600-1945) is based on a series of four sessions of a conference
held alternately at Columbia University and Cologne University from
June 1994 to September 1995. These sessions had their origin in both
the world of great political events and the realm of scholarly
discussions.

Ukraine's declaration of independence, ratified by the referendum of
1 December 1991, and subsequent international recognition led to the
dissolution of the Soviet Union on 25 December 1991. These
developments made Ukrainian-Russian relations a major international
issue. The establishment of these two independent neighbouring states
ushered in a new, difficult, and uncertain phase in their relations.
Since Russia would clearly remain a major world power, while Ukraine
was the largest and one of the most populous states of Europe, those
relations took on more than regional significance. The post-Soviet
order depends largely on how these two countries work out their
relations.

The editors of Culture, Nation, and Identity, representing the East
European History Seminar at Cologne University, the Harriman
Institute at Columbia University, and the Canadian Institute of
Ukrainian Studies at the University of Alberta, invited seventy
specialists to examine the Russian-Ukrainian encounter in four
chronological symposia, from the seventeenth century to the present.
The present volume is a selection of sixteen articles developed from
presentations on the Ukrainian-Russian encounter from the early
modern period to World War II. In their contributions, scholars from
Canada, Germany, Russia, Ukraine, and the United States employ
diverse methodologies to examine the many spheres in which Russians
and Ukrainians and their identities and cultures interacted. [...]

[the above text is by Marko Stech]

******* Book on a related topic:
David Saunders, The Ukrainian Impact on Russian Culture, 1750-1850 (415 pp.)
*******
(Descriptions and sample pages of these, as well as other CIUS Press
publications, may be found at <www.utoronto.ca/cius>).

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
                  http://home.attbi.com/~lists/seelangs/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------