The Self and the Social in the Revolution of Dignity through the lens of Ukrainian contemporary literature

Abstract

Summary The tragic events in Ukraine between November 2013 and February 2014, known as Euromaidan, or the Revolution of Dignity, greatly impacted the country’s social and political development and, for sure, the literary realm. A wide range of memories and novels put what happened in central Kyїv Square at the center of the plot, trying to capture the most significant details. Analyzing some of these texts from both a literary and sociological point of view is a key to understanding the main trends in the perception of history in “live format” by the Ukrainian cultural élite. Among the most representative examples, we should quote the essays of Taras Prokhas’ko, the novels Radio Night by Yurii Andrukhovych, tracing its link with Mykola Khvylovy’s I (romance) and the debut work of Victoria Amelina, The Fall Syndrome, or Homo Compatiens. Starting from these texts, we will follow the awakening of personal identity (even if primarily in a fictional dimension), its influence on the self-identification processes of the whole nation, i. e., social identity, and its non-hierarchical way of development, based on the principle of fairness.