Region, Nation and Beyond: An Interdisciplinary and Transcultural Reconceptualization of Ukraine

Project leaders: Prof. Dr. Ulrich Schmid (St. Gallen), Prof. Dr. Juliane Besters-Dilger (Freiburg), Univ.-Prof. Mag. Dr. Alois Woldan (head of the Austrian part)
Duration: 01.04.2012–30.06.2016
Funding: Schweizerischer Nationalfonds (SNF), Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), Fonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung Österreich (FWF)
Granted sum: EUR 117.127,50 (for the Austrian part)

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Since the breakdown of the Soviet Union, Ukraine has attracted increased scholarly attention because of its erratic and contested political processes and complex cultural dynamics. The term «Ukraine» itself needs clarification: Does it refer to a geographic territory, a state, a nation or a culture? The incongruent, albeit intersecting, dimensions of «Ukraine» make clear that a single disciplinary approach will not suffice to describe the discourses that shape and define the largest state to appear on the political map of Europe in the 20th century.

This project proposes an interdisciplinary and transcultural approach that questions simplistic conceptualizations. It is a commonly acknowledged truth that regions matter in Ukraine. Yet, little is known about the discursive shape of Ukrainian regionalism and about how it affects greater processes of change. The project puts forward the hypothesis that patterns of regional identification in different social and cultural realms do not form a map with clear cut borders but rather overlap and/or form an archipelago. We expect to find similar attitudes in quite distant parts of the country and, conversely, diverse practices and values in regions that so far have been considered quite homogenic.

Homepage: regionandculture.krytyka.com