Proclamation of the Ukrainian people's republic and West ukrainian people's republic unification act:the press resonance in Halychyna

Abstract

The article focuses on the analysis of the Unification discourse in the Galician periodicals related to the Unification Act – the solemn proclamation of the Unification of the West Ukrainian People's Republic (ZUNR) with the Ukrainian People's Republic (UNR). The main thematic dominants have been highlighted with comparative parallels from the Trans-Dnieper publications, on the basis of the “press dialogue” consonant and debatable points have been outlined. The object of the study is the Galician editions “Narod”, “Republika”, “Republikanets”, “Nove Zhyttia” (all published in Stanislaviv), “Ukrayinsky Holos” (Ternopil), “Zolochivske Slovo”, etc. In order to compare the historical, cultural and ideological contexts, the texts of some Trans-Dnieper newspapers have been also included, in particular: “Renaissance” (Kyiv), “Vistnyk Ukrainskoyi Narodnoyi Respubliky” (Kyiv, Vinnytsia, Kamianets-Podilskyi), “Nova Rada” (Kyiv). The purpose of the research is to outline and analyse the main problem nodes of publications about Velyka Zluka (the Unification Act) in the Galician press space of the ZUNR era, to single out the vectors of influence on the public reception of this event, to trace the retransmission in magazines of unanimous and oppositional ideas, vision of the Unification process of by the Galicians and the Trans-Dnieprians. The methodological basis is a comprehensive approach to the object of research – the use of analytical, comparative methods and content analysis in addition to general historical ones. An interdisciplinary approach combining historical and press studies is also relevant. The Conclusions. The analysis of publications proves the influence of historical, ideological and mental factors on the Unification Act of the UNR and ZUNR. In the Galician press the Unification discourse takes on different interpretive forms, as the articles are of a conceptual, informational and polemical nature, illustrating the desire for national unity and at the same time obstacles on the way to its realization. Comparative parallels with publications in the journals of the Ukrainian National People's Republic make it possible to avoid one-sidedness of evaluation and to present the Unification process in the format of a dialogue of the Ukrainians in Galicia and Naddniprianshchyna.