The creation and activity of societies in the Hutsul region in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as drivers of Ukrainian national identity

Abstract

The research is aimed at studying the processes of formation of Ukrainian national identity in the late 19th – early 20th centuries in the Hutsul region. The scientific novelty lies in the analytical understanding of the impact of the activities of societies on the processes of national identification at the regional level.

The aim of the article is to analyze the influence of the creation and activity of Ukrainian societies on the construction of Ukrainian national identity in the Hutsul region in the late 19th – early 20th centuries.

The methodology of this scientific study is founded on the principles of historicism, scientific rigor, objectivity, and systematic analysis. Both general scientific and specialized research methods were employed. The publication also incorporates ethnological methods, including: comparative-historical, analytical-typological, historical reconstruction, and statistical approaches.

As a result of the study, it was found that Ukrainian cultural and educational societies, through their practical activities, directly influenced the national self-identification of the population and played an important role in the processes of solidarity and consolidation. Using their authority and popularity, cultural and educational societies rallied the population during the preparation, organization, and holding of various events. The libraries created by the reading rooms housed amateur art, music, and sports and physical education clubs.

Ukrainian-language magazines, monthlies, newspapers, and updated reading room funds, subscribed to by the intelligentsia for the community, popularized education, stimulated the interest of the region's population in local and national affairs, and contributed to the rise of the Ukrainian national movement.

As part of the activities of these Ukrainian educational societies, mass readings of works by Ukrainian artists were held, diverse conversations were held, the anniversaries of Ukrainian educators and writers T. Shevchenko, I. Franko, and M. Shashkevych were honored, and national holidays were celebrated.

The work of Ukrainian cultural, educational, and gymnastic-sports societies in Hutsulshchyna, along with the establishment of their local networks, was instrumental in shaping civil society and its values. This had a significant impact on the ethno-political consolidation of Ukrainians in the Hutsul ethnographic region. It also contributed to their ethno-cultural and socio-political mobilization, and their integration into the political processes of that era. Various forms and methods of their functioning contributed to the revitalization of the work of the centers, patriotic education, and the raising of the national consciousness of the population. The active activity of cultural and educational societies deepened the process of national self-identification among the Hutsuls.