Galicia: A Multicultural Land by Christopher Hann , Paul Robert Magocsi (review)

Abstract

REVIEWS 365 Hann, Christopher and Magocsi, Paul Robert(eds). Galicia: A Multicultural Land. University of Toronto Press,Toronto, ON, Buffalo,NY and London, 2006. ix + 259 pp. Map. Illustrations. Notes. Index. $35.00:£20.00 (paperback). The articles collected inthisvolumewereoriginally presented at a conference on Galicia, held in May 1998 at the University of Ârhus,Denmark.The elevenspecialists fromvariousacademic disciplines and different countries represented herehavemadeimportant contributions tothehistory ofGalicia overthelastfifteen years.In thisrespect thevolumesummarizes largely recent historical and cultural researchon Galicia,together withCzaplicka'srecent collection ofarticles on thehistory ofLwów/Lviv (John Czaplicka[ed.],Lviv: A City inthe Crosscurrents ofCulture, HarvardUkrainian Studies, 24,Cambridge, MA, 2002).As suchthepublication is verywelcome. Paul RobertMagocsi,co-editor of thevolumeand an authorof a wellknowngeneralhistory ofUkraine,outlines in hisintroduction threeaspects whichcharacterize the regionand whichhe considersas veryhelpfulfor itsunderstanding: first, tradeand commerceand mostimportantly Galicia's economicdeclinein thenineteenth century; secondly, itsethnicdiversity (he namesparticularly the Jews, Ukrainians, Poles,GermansandArmenians) and, thirdly, the Habsburgheritage, above all 'mutualconflicting claimsto the sameterritory' (p. 15)and Ukrainian patriotism. Magocsiidentifies Galiciaas historic Galicia,whichmeanspre-1772 and EasternGalicia. Takingtheintroductory remarks as a guideline forthevolumeone has to makesomereservations. Firstly, ifwe identify Galicia as historic Galicia and excludefromit thehistory ofWesternGalicia (in thisvolumeKai Struve's articleon 'Peasantsand Patriotic Celebrations in HabsburgGalicia' is the onlyexceptionin thisrespect) thenone mighthave expectedto see several contributions on Galicia's pre-1772 history in the volume.Yet onlyJerzy Motylewicz's discussion ofthevariousethnic communities inthetownsofthe Polish-Ukrainian borderland hasa clearfocuson thepre-nineteenth centuries. Secondly, ifethnicdiversity is a specific marker oftheregion, and bearingin mindthetitleofthevolume('a multicultural land'),thenone is disappointed by thefactthatthevolumecontainsonlyarticleson Ukrainian-Polish and Orthodox-Catholic relations. Jews,who constituted an important part of Galicia's populationover manycenturies and whose history/ histories has receivedconsiderable attention in the 1990s,are hardlyrepresented (JohnPaul Himka'scompetent overview ofGalicia'sreligious diversity treats them at leastto someextent). Mostarticles focuson variousaspectsofGalicia'shistory inthenineteenth and thefirst halfofthetwentieth century as one might have expected.The Polishhistorian Stanislaw Stçpienreminds us abouttheimportant rolewhich Przemysl - and particularly itsGreekCatholicChurch- hasplayedin the earlynineteenth century forthe'Rutheniannationalawakening' (p. 55).The Ukrainianhistorian Volodymyr Potul'nyts'kyi approachesthe questionof Galicianidentity at theturnofthetwentieth century withintheUkrainian context bycomparing twoimagesfrom Ukrainians from outsideGalicia and twoimagesfrom within Galicia.Although hisconclusion is notveryoriginal, thatallfour'regarded Galiciaas partofa single Ukrainian patrimony' (p.97), 366 SEER, 87, 2, APRIL 200g the approachmakesquite interesting reading.The articleby the German historian Kai Struveon thepatriotic celebrations of Polishand Ukrainian peasantsis one of thefinest in thevolume.He comparesUkrainiancommemorations of the abolitionof peasantserfdom and theirtransformation intonational festivals sincetheendofthenineteenth century and Polishpeasant pilgrimages whichfulfilled a rathersimilar- national- aim. Anna VeronikaWendland analysesthe nationalization of the public spherein interwar Lviv.The nationalization ofwar memories dividedand segregated theurbanpublicspherealong nationallinesand she stresses thatrumours playeda keyrolein their making. The volumeconcludes withthreearticles on Galicia'smorerecent history, thetimeperiodafterthecollapseof Communism in EasternEurope.The British geographer Luiza Bialasiewiczfocuseson the questionof how discourse on the Habsburg legacy has shaped discourseon the region's Europeanbelonging.She is particularly interested in the Polish-Ukrainian 'geographical imaginary' oftheregionaimedatpresenting thisborderland 'as a historical spaceofcoexistence and contentment' (p. 163).The Lvivhistorian Yaroslav Hrytsak analysesthe phenomenonof regionalism in Galicia. He tracesUkrainian nationalization oftheregion's history backtothe1860s,and pointsto selective forgetting withrespect to otherethno-confessional groups and to thedevelopment ofa rather exclusive Ukrainiannationalidentity in theregionin thetwentieth century, itself mostprobablya result oftherival Polishnationalnarrative. Contemporary Galicia is peripheral in Ukrainein manywaysand youngintellectuals from theregionhaveresponded recently to thisprocessby claiming somekindofautonomy forGalicia. The British anthropologist ChrisHann examines theentanglement oftheGreekCatholic ChurchwithUkrainian nationalism inthenineteenth and twentieth centuries in Przemys'l - whichaccording to hisanalysis alienatedsomeofthefaithful fromthechurch- and thestruggle fora new multiculturalism in thecity after 1991, whichhas stilltobe established. The volume,whichcontainsa map of Galicia and an index,convinces onlypartially: whilemostofthearticles arewellresearched, argueclearly and thusdeserve attention, thegeneralstructure ofthepublication does notmeet theexpectations whichone mighthave had on openingthebook. Paul R. Magocsi is certainly right withhis advice thattheeconomichistory of the regionshouldbe takenmoreseriously intoconsideration. Historisches Seminar G. Hausmann AlbertLudwigs Universität Freiburg Bitis,Alexander.RussiaandtheEastern Question: Army, Government, andSociety 1815-1833. A British AcademyPostdoctoral Fellowship Monograph.The British Academyand OxfordUniversity Press,Oxford, 2006.xxiii+ 542 pp. Maps. Notes.Bibliography. Index.£75.00. The EasternQuestioninRussianstudies has curiously slippedoff theagenda ofmuchmodernscholarship oflate,thelastmajorstudies in thisarea being byM. E. Yapp andM. S. Anderson inthe1960sand 1970s. Itperhaps became ...