Specific features of theory and methods of chronicles’ archeography in Ukrainian SSR (in 1970s)

Abstract

The purpose of the study. With the help of an analysis of the publications of Ukrainian chronicles carried out during the 1970s, to reconstruct the theoretical and methodological basis of the archeographic works of compilers and publishers, and to identify the specific features of the theory and methods of chronicle’s archeography in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR). Methodology of the study includes using of a comparative and scientific historicism methods. This approach makes it possible to establish the sequence and characteristic features of the development of archeography in a totalitarian system, to restore the places of breaks in development. The scientific novelty of the work is in reproducing the completeness of scientific knowledge about Ukrainian archeography, determining the role of scientists in maintaining continuity in the development despite the ideological factors of the Soviet period. The situation changed in the 1970s. This period, according to many researchers, was a lost time for all Ukrai- nian humanities and, above all, for archeography. It was the end of the theoretical studies in Ukrainian archeography, of its «individualization» at the level of the definition of the subject of research. The general situation affected primarily the work with the Ukrainian chronicles. When publishing individual chronicles, the entire spectrum of available text versions was not taken into account, the context of writing the document was not taken into account too. It resulted in incorrect identification of its output data (authorship, date of writing, etc.), ignored as insignificant, external and internal features of the document. In general, in the 1970s, Ukrainian Soviet archeography focused on the publication of ideologically relevant collections of documents and materials. This was reflected both at the level of theoretical and methods development, as well as on the number of archeographers involved in the theoretical studies. Conclusions. Archeography as a separate discipline nearly ceased to exist in the USSR in the 1970s. Some exertions of archeographic thought and approaches are observed only as an addition to other auxiliary dis- ciplines - archival science and source study. This situation influenced upon the level of the theory and methods of the chronicles’ archeography of this period. Nevertheless, thanks to the activities of Ukrainian scientists, even in such conditions, it was possible not only to preserve some of the traditions of Ukrainian archeography of the previous periods, but also to create conditions for the revival of the archeography in Ukraine in the 1990s.

Keywords

• theory, methods, archeography, chronicles, historical source, document.