Through the Looking-Glass. The Ukrainian Reverse Side of the Polish Kresy myth

The review discusses the book by Katarzyna Glinianowicz, Z cienia polskości. Ukraińska proza galicyjska przełomu XIX i XX wieku, which is a postcolonial attempt at a history of Ukrainian literature. Glinianowicz analyses the representation of Polish tradition and Polish values in Ukrainian prose from Galicia and Bukovina and finds that the Polish trace in the Ukrainian culture of that period is connected with the symbolic emancipation gesture. The title – “From the Shadow of Polishness” – is a birth metaphor of the contemporary Ukrainian identity.
The reviewer appreciates the original idea of the book and finds it very interesting not only as a study on Ukrainian literature, but also as a record of the reverse side of the Polish stereotype.

The review discusses the book by Katarzyna Glinianowicz, Z cienia polskości. Ukraińska proza galicyjska przełomu XIX i XX wieku, which is a postcolonial attempt at a history of Ukrainian literature. Glinianowicz analyses the representation of Polish tradition and Polish values in Ukrainian prose from Galicia and Bukovina and finds that the Polish trace in the Ukrainian culture of that period is connected with the symbolic emancipation gesture. The title – “From the Shadow of Polishness” – is a birth metaphor of the contemporary Ukrainian identity.
The reviewer appreciates the original idea of the book and finds it very interesting not only as a study on Ukrainian literature, but also as a record of the reverse side of the Polish stereotype.