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Laboratory of ModernityUkraine between Empire and Nation, 1772–1914 |
eBook Available
The first English history of modern Ukraine through the prism of global modernity.
When the powers of Europe were at their prime, present-day Ukraine was divided between the Austrian and Russian empires, each imposing different political, social, and cultural models on its subjects. This inevitably led to great diversity in the lives of its inhabitants, shaping modern Ukraine into the multiethnic country it is today.
Making innovative use of methods of social and cultural history, gender studies, literary theory, and sociology, Laboratory of Modernity explores the history of Ukraine throughout the long nineteenth century and offers a unique study of its pluralistic society, culture, and political scene. Despite being subjected to different and conflicting power models during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Ukraine was not only imagined as a distinct entity with a unique culture and history but was also realized as a set of social and political institutions. The story of modern Ukraine is geopolitically complex, encompassing the historical narratives of several major communities - including ethnic Ukrainians, Poles, Jews, and Russians - who for centuries lived side by side.
The first comprehensive study of nineteenth-century Ukraine in English, Laboratory of Modernity traces the historical origins of some of the most pressing issues facing Ukraine and the international community today.
Making innovative use of methods of social and cultural history, gender studies, literary theory, and sociology, Laboratory of Modernity explores the history of Ukraine throughout the long nineteenth century and offers a unique study of its pluralistic society, culture, and political scene. Despite being subjected to different and conflicting power models during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Ukraine was not only imagined as a distinct entity with a unique culture and history but was also realized as a set of social and political institutions. The story of modern Ukraine is geopolitically complex, encompassing the historical narratives of several major communities - including ethnic Ukrainians, Poles, Jews, and Russians - who for centuries lived side by side.
The first comprehensive study of nineteenth-century Ukraine in English, Laboratory of Modernity traces the historical origins of some of the most pressing issues facing Ukraine and the international community today.
Details
688 Pages, 6 x 9
8 maps, 19 tables
ISBN 9780228017578
October 2023
Formats: Cloth, Paperback, eBook
“This is a monumental work of conceptualization and synthesis. Through a series of thematic essays, Bilenky paints a picture of the intellectual, social, economic, and political life of Ukrainians on both sides of the Russian/Austrian border in the long nineteenth century. Laboratory of Modernity should be compulsory reading for everyone interested in the study of empire and nationality in Russian history.” Heather Coleman, University of Alberta and editor of Orthodox Christianity in Imperial Russia: A Source Book on Lived Religion
Serhiy Bilenky is a research associate at the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Alberta.
Tables | viii
Preface: What Can Ukraine Teach Us about the Modern World? | ix
Maps follow page xiv
Part One: Ukraine 1772-1831
1 Between Two Empires | 3
The Age of Enlightened Absolutism and Its Legacy | 3
Dynastic Empires Change Space | 9
The Rise of Bureaucracy | 22
How to Tackle Diversity? | 27
2 From Enlightenment to Romanticism | 38
Ukrainians as Empire Builders | 38
Dr Frankenstein’s Laboratory of Nationalism | 50
Heritage Gatherers, Glory Hunters | 57
Ukraine Begins in the East | 72
Old Regime under Threat: Poles and Decembrists | 81
Part Two: Ukraine 1831-1876
3 The Age of Romantic Nationalism | 91
Another Ukraine, Other “Ukrainians” | 91
Inventing an Ancient and Holy City: The Rise of Kyiv | 99
The Making of One Nationality is the Unmaking of Others | 106
From Serf to Prophet: The Improbable Case of Taras Shevchenko | 115
Was There a Revolution in Ukraine in 1848? | 122
4 The Age of Reforms | 132
Tradition vs. Modernization | 132
Liberal Interlude in Russia: The Reformers | 146
Liberal Interlude in Russia: The Reformed | 155
The Birth of the Intelligentsia from the Spirit of Reform | 164
5 The Empire Strikes Back | 179
Poles Rebel, Act II | 179
“There was not, is not, and cannot be” a Ukrainian Language | 189
Fathers and Sons, Ukrainian Style | 205
From Austria to Austria-Hungary | 217
part three: ukraine 1876-1914
6 Galician Exceptionalism | 227
Ruthenians in Search of a Nation | 227
The Ukrainian Piedmont | 241
From Dawn to Dusk of the New Era | 250
Whose City Was It? Lviv vs. Lwów | 260
7 New Society, Old Empire | 274
Nation of Peasants: Social Mobility and Immobility | 274
The Curse and Blessing of Resources | 285
Was Ukraine Russia’s Colony? | 295
Society at the Crossroads | 308
Live Fast, Die Young: Birth, Death, Family, and Gender | 325
The West is the Best? Oil Boom, Rural Poverty, and Emigration | 342
Imperial Pecking Order: Peoples of Ukraine | 357
8 Politics and Culture between Empire and Nation | 384
The World(s) of Fin-de-Siècle and Beyond | 384
The Dubious Blessing of Illiteracy | 402
When Ukraine Learned to Read: Non-Readers into Readers | 411
Between Theater and Terrorism | 430
“People do not exist for States” | 449
The Un/Solved Ukrainian Dilemmas: Epilogue | 470
Timeline | 489
Notes | 497
Bibliographic Essay | 539
Index | 567
Preface: What Can Ukraine Teach Us about the Modern World? | ix
Maps follow page xiv
Part One: Ukraine 1772-1831
1 Between Two Empires | 3
The Age of Enlightened Absolutism and Its Legacy | 3
Dynastic Empires Change Space | 9
The Rise of Bureaucracy | 22
How to Tackle Diversity? | 27
2 From Enlightenment to Romanticism | 38
Ukrainians as Empire Builders | 38
Dr Frankenstein’s Laboratory of Nationalism | 50
Heritage Gatherers, Glory Hunters | 57
Ukraine Begins in the East | 72
Old Regime under Threat: Poles and Decembrists | 81
Part Two: Ukraine 1831-1876
3 The Age of Romantic Nationalism | 91
Another Ukraine, Other “Ukrainians” | 91
Inventing an Ancient and Holy City: The Rise of Kyiv | 99
The Making of One Nationality is the Unmaking of Others | 106
From Serf to Prophet: The Improbable Case of Taras Shevchenko | 115
Was There a Revolution in Ukraine in 1848? | 122
4 The Age of Reforms | 132
Tradition vs. Modernization | 132
Liberal Interlude in Russia: The Reformers | 146
Liberal Interlude in Russia: The Reformed | 155
The Birth of the Intelligentsia from the Spirit of Reform | 164
5 The Empire Strikes Back | 179
Poles Rebel, Act II | 179
“There was not, is not, and cannot be” a Ukrainian Language | 189
Fathers and Sons, Ukrainian Style | 205
From Austria to Austria-Hungary | 217
part three: ukraine 1876-1914
6 Galician Exceptionalism | 227
Ruthenians in Search of a Nation | 227
The Ukrainian Piedmont | 241
From Dawn to Dusk of the New Era | 250
Whose City Was It? Lviv vs. Lwów | 260
7 New Society, Old Empire | 274
Nation of Peasants: Social Mobility and Immobility | 274
The Curse and Blessing of Resources | 285
Was Ukraine Russia’s Colony? | 295
Society at the Crossroads | 308
Live Fast, Die Young: Birth, Death, Family, and Gender | 325
The West is the Best? Oil Boom, Rural Poverty, and Emigration | 342
Imperial Pecking Order: Peoples of Ukraine | 357
8 Politics and Culture between Empire and Nation | 384
The World(s) of Fin-de-Siècle and Beyond | 384
The Dubious Blessing of Illiteracy | 402
When Ukraine Learned to Read: Non-Readers into Readers | 411
Between Theater and Terrorism | 430
“People do not exist for States” | 449
The Un/Solved Ukrainian Dilemmas: Epilogue | 470
Timeline | 489
Notes | 497
Bibliographic Essay | 539
Index | 567
Winner
Omeljan Pritsak Book Prize in Ukrainian Studies
Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies
2024
Finalist
Reginald Zelnik Book Prize in History (honourable mention)
Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies
2024
Omeljan Pritsak Book Prize in Ukrainian Studies
Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies
2024
Finalist
Reginald Zelnik Book Prize in History (honourable mention)
Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies
2024
