Bridging the Past and the Future: Ukrainian History Writing Since Independence

Ukrainian historical scholarship as it emerged after the Soviet collapse represented a confusing mixture of old and new, and attempts to bridge the thematic, institutional, and methodological breaks spanning the Soviet past, the Ukrainian present, and the international future defined the next twenty years of history writing in independent Ukraine. 1 These decades saw the rise of the "national paradigm" in historiography as well as challenges to its dominance, resulting from increased exposure to modern Western methodologies. Above all, though, the struggle between the new and the old was about liberating the historical profession from the enduring legacy of Soviet dogmatism, if often dressed up in the clothes of postcommunist nationalism.