Presentations by Streams

The panel will look into manifestations of the key Ukrainian national markers as well as representation of the search for the national identity in a range of literary texts written by authors who were born and lived in Ukraine. The texts that will be discussed span the period from the 20-30ies of the 20th century to the current year of 2023 – the period which is defined by the decisive political events in the history of Ukraine and recurrent attempts to defend its right for independence. Being written in different languages – Ukrainian, Russian, and English – the texts under analysis present a range of perspectives on the Ukrainian national identity, including its interpretation with the concepts of “Self” and “Other”, belonging, awareness, identification, memory, cultural heritage, preservation and loss. The panellists will examine both wider political, social and cultural contexts in which the selected for the panel literary texts were created and the poetic peculiarities of these texts, revealing the tension between obliterating or distorting Ukrainian cultural heritage and its preservation and rediscovery, and illuminating the interplay between reproducing Ukrainian national identity and recreating it.