Between the past and the future: Mass Rallies as the staging of the Ukrainian National Project (1911–1914)

Abstract

Between the past and the future: Mass Rallies as the staging of the Ukrainian National Project (1911–1914) (Summary) In this paper the internal interactions between the Ukrainian political groups are analyzed. Two rallies, commemorating the great Ukrainian poet, Taras Shevchenko, serve as a lens through which to observe the complex nature of the “Ukrainian national project.” When looking at the Ukrainian rallies of 1911 and 1914, specific focus is paid to the internal and external factors which led to the restructuring of the Ukrainian national project. In particular, the paper focuses on the organization, structure, and contexts of these commemorative events, as well as the organizers and people attending them. The analysis is centered of their political views, socio-economic background, age, gender, and education, thus allowing the author to trace the appearance of new symbols, new ways of using public spaces in the city, the dissemination of rituals and, finally, to comment on how these new approaches shaped the commemorative landscape in general. The author argues that to understand the polical interraction and transition of the Ukrainian narrative from cultural nationalism to military nationalism, three interwoven elements should be taken into consideration: the revision of the Taras Shevchenko cult; the creation of a new historical narrative and the new approach to public space, used as a stage for national ideas.