The Nation's Brightest and Noblest: Narrative Identity and Empowering Accounts of the Ukrainian Intelligentsia in Post-1991 L'viv

Abstract

This study brings into focus the issue of reproduction and transformation ofcultural authority in the so-called post-Soviet context. It seeks to examine howintelligentsia may be presented and what empowering narratives it may articulate in a concrete locality, namely, in the post-1991 West Ukrainian city of L’viv. Theauthor argues that claims for cultural authority stemming from the socio-culturallocation of intelligentsia are decisive in discussions about Ukrainian nationalidentity and cultural development, which gained momentum after independence.Despite significant discursive transformations, after 1991 intelligentsia is stillpresented as the essence of the nation, as its typical and brightest representativeswho assume the right to speak for the whole nation and to extrapolate own valuesand choices to it.

Keywords

Citizenship, Civil society, Nation and Nationalism,

Publications

Narvselius, Eleonora (2009) The Nation’s Brightest and Noblest: Narrative Identity and Empowering Accounts of theUkrainian Intelligentsia in Post-1991 L’viv. PhD dissertation. Linköping: Linköping University Press

Electronic version: http://liu.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2:236101