Self-reflection in Ukrainian Soviet historiography during the period of perestroika

This study focuses on the self-reflection in Ukrainian Soviet historiography during perestroika. It was a paradoxical period marked by the flourishing of Marxist historiography and yet the beginning of its decline, which resulted in a massive rejection of the Marxist paradigm by researchers. The ideas expressed by the authors of the seminal work “Historiography of the History of the Ukrainian SSR”, which defines the general trajectory of historiographical research in the Ukrainian SSR and its state at the moment of a major historical change, are reconstructed. The book was published at the dawn of glasnost policy and quickly became outdated and emblematic of a bygone era. The subsequent advance of historiography in the region was closely linked to the socio-economic, political, and national shifts caused by perestroika. Here, particular attention is paid to the studies on the historiography of the pre-Mongol period in the history of the Eastern Slavs and the reunification of Ukraine with Russia. Both of them were less ideologically influenced and thus revising them proceeded more naturally than studying the issues in the contemporary history of Ukraine. The analysis shows that Ukrainian Soviet historiographical research, even in these less politicized areas, experienced a shift from identifying itself as an integral part of Soviet Marxist historiography to prioritizing national uniqueness, which appeared not so much a consequence of natural evolution as the result of external influences from the social transformations driven by perestroika.

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