Učënye Zapiski Kazanskogo Universiteta: Seriâ Gumanitarnye Nauki (Dec 2021)
Reception of the Ukrainophilic ideas by Russian periodicals during the first half of the 1860s: Democratic and protective approaches
Abstract
The article discusses how Russian periodicals responded to the Ukrainophilic views that were widely supported by Russian society during the early 1860s. The writers from the bilingual magazine “Osnova” (‘Basis’), particularly N.I. Kostomarov and P.A. Kulish, actively contributed to the achievements of the first generation of Ukrainophiles. The latter elaborated and presented their program aimed to preserve the Little Russia culture. The results of the analysis of the periodical sources show that the printed media of the period under study had polarized views on the national identity of Little Russia and divided into two factions: the democratic and protective ones. The democratic approach was led by the magazines “Sovremennik” (‘The Contemporary’) and “Otechestvennye Zapiski” (‘Annals of the Fatherland’) that considered the new provincial movement as the beginning of Narodism. The key supporters of the protective approach were the newspaper “Den’” (‘The Day’) and the magazine “Russkii Vestnik” (‘The Russian Bulletin’) that criticized the Ukrainian legacy adherents for separating the Russian nationalities. The stages of the evolution of the Russian periodicals’ attitude to Ukrainophiles were singled out. The main factors that influenced it were revealed. The consequences of the short-term prevalence of the Ukrainian “selfhood” ideology among publicists of the Russian Empire and its influence on the subsequent development of the Ukrainophilia movement were summarized.
