Polonica and Ucrainica in Historical Retrospect and Contemporary Intellectual, Archival and Cultural Contexts

The aim of the article is to conduct a comparative analysis of the concepts of Polonica and Ucrainica, to identify the key areas and outcomes of the activities undertaken by academic and archival institutions in Poland and Ukraine in the field of identification, study, preservation, and representation of documentary collections related to Polish and Ukrainian history. Special attention is paid to approaches to understanding and practical application of the concept of «common archival heritage». The methodological framework of the research is based on the historical-genetic and comparative approaches, as well as the principles of comprehensiveness, objectivity, continuity, and interdisciplinarity. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the comparative analysis of Polonica and Ucrainica through the lens of state policy in the field of archival affairs and cultural heritage preservation, as well as the activities of archival and academic institutions in Ukraine and Poland. The concepts of Polonica and Ucrainica are examined not only within the framework of academic discourse, but also in the broader context of national identity formation, collective memory, and the preservation of historical and cultural heritage. Conclusions. The comparative analysis has made it possible to identify both similarities and differences in state policy, as well as in the practices of preserving and presenting documentary collections of Polonica and Ucrainica in Poland and Ukraine. In both countries, efforts to accumulate, register, and describe these collections have been ongoing since the 19th century. However, the conceptualization of these notions and the formation of scholarly traditions for studying Ucrainica and Polonica took place in the contemporary period (late 20th – early 21st century). These collections have played an important role in shaping national self-awareness and contributing to state-building processes. At the same time, over the past thirty years, the Republic of Poland has pursued a more consistent and active state policy in the protection, preservation, and digitization of Polish cultural heritage abroad. An important area of activity for archival institutions in both Ukraine and Poland is the digitization of documentary collections and their accessibility in the online space. In the context of the full-scale war, Ukrainian archivists are taking all possible measures to safeguard archival heritage while creating conditions for its study and representation. References: 1. Antoniuk, T. & Dubrovina, L. (2019). Ukrainika [Ucrainica]. In Entsyklopedia istorii Ukrainy. Tom «Ukraina – Ukraintsi» (Vol. 2, pp. 519–522). Instytut istorii Ukrainy NAN Ukrainy. Kyiv : Naukova dumka [in Ukrainian].2. Bieńkowska, B., Maruszak, E. & Puchalski, J. (2017). Registration of the Polish Collections Abroad – with special consideration for our threatened heritage – the endangered heritage in particular (2006–2015). In Polonika w zbiorach obcych. Warszawa : Polskie Bratstwo Kawalerów Gutenberga. Retrieved from https://bookhistory.uw.edu.pl/index.php/ zbadannadksiazka/article/view/55/59 [in English].3. Boriak, T. (2011). Arkhivna Ukrainika yak a produkt diialnosti ukrainskoi emihratsii : dva desiatylittia doslidzhen (1990–2010) [Archival Ucrainica as a product of Ukrainian emigration : two decades of research (1990–2010)]. Ukrainoznavchyi almanach, 4, 224–227 [in Ukrainian].4. Dubrovina, L. (2017). Do vytokiv kontseptsii informatsiinykh resursiv ukrainiky : mizhvidomchi proekty ta derzhavni prohramy v haluzi arkhivoznavstva, arkheohrafii ta bibliohrafii v 90-kh rr. XX st. [To the origins of the concepts of information resources of Ucrainica : interdepartmental projects and state programs in the field of archival science, archaeography and bibliography in the 1990s]. Rukopysna ta knyzhkova spadshchyna Ukrainy, 21, 213–232 [in Ukrainian].5. Fischer, I. (2023). Rząd na Emigracji, Kancelaria poza krajem. Materiały związane z działalnością Rządu Ukraińskiej Republiki Ludowej w Tarnowie z lat 1917–1922 ze zbiorów Archiwum Narodowego w Krakowie = Government-in-Exile, Chancellery Abroad. National Archives materials on the government of the Ukrainian People’s Republic in Tarnów, 1917–1922. Kraków : Archiwum Narodowe w Krakowie [in Polish, in English]. https://doi.org/10.4467/12332135KRA.23.017.186256. Grimsted, P. K. (2001). Trophies of War and Empire : The Archival Heritage of Ukraine, World War II, and the International Politics of Restitution. Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute [in English].7. Khromov, A. (2020). Portal «Arkhivy Yevropy» ta reprezentatsia Ukrainy v yevropeiskomu prostori otsyfrovanoho kulturnoho nadbannia [The «Archives of Europe» portal and the representation of Ukraine in the European sphere of digitized cultural heritage]. Arkhivy Ukrainy, 2, 7–16 [in Ukrainian]. https://doi.org/10.47315/archives2020.323.0078. Kot, S. (2020). Povernennia i restytutsiia tsinnostei u politychnomu ta kulturnomu zhytti Ukrainy (XX – poch. XXI st.) [Return and restitution of cultural values in the political and cultural life of Ukraine (XX – early XXI centuries). Kyiv : Institute of History of Ukraine, NAS of Ukraine [in Ukrainian].9. Krochmal, A. (2021). Rozproszone dziedzictwo. Kwestia rewindykacji polskich zasobow archiwalnych [Scattered Heritage : The Issue of Reclaiming Polish Archival Resources]. Teka Komisji Historycznej Towarzystwa Naukowego KUL, 18, 113–158. https://doi.org/10.18290/teka21.5 [in Polish]. 10. Krochmal, A. (Comp.) (2004). Polskie instytucje za granicą: przewodnik po zbiorach archiwalnych [Polish institutions abroad: a guide to archival collections]. Warzawa : Naczelna Dyrekcja Archiwów Państwowych [in Polish].11. Matiash, I. (2019). Ukrainika Arkhivna [Archival Ucrainica]. In Entsyklopediia istorii Ukrainy. Tom «Ukraina – Ukraintsi» (Vol. 2, pp. 522–524). Instytut istorii Ukrainy NAN Ukrainy. Kyiv : Naukova dumka [in Ukrainian].12. Matiash, I. (2023). The Archival Ucrainica : Instituonalization of Research. Archiwa – Kancelarie – Zbiory, 14(16), 11–36 [in English]. https://doi.org/10.12775/AKZ.2023.00113. Matiash, I. & Paliienko, M. (2019). Ukrainika arkhivna zarubizhna, arkhivna ukrainika v zarubizhnykh arkhivakh [Archival Ucrainica abroad, archival Ucrainica in foreign archives]. In Entsyklopediia istorii Ukrainy. Tom «Ukraina – Ukraintsi» (Vol. 2, pp. 524–530). Instytut istorii Ukrainy NAN Ukrainy. Kyiv : Naukova dumka [in Ukrainian].14. Paliienko, M. (2008). Arkhivni tsentry ukrainskoi emihratsii (stvorennia, funktsionuvannia, dolia dokumentalnykh kolektsii) [Archival centers of Ukrainian emigration (creation, functioning, fate of documentary collections)]. Kyiv : Tempora. [in Ukrainian].15. Paliienko, M. (2010). Arkhivna spadshchyna ukrainskoi emihratsii yak skladova zarubizhnoi ukrainiky : osnovni etapy formuvannia [Archival heritage of Ukrainian emigration as a part of foreign Ucrainica : main stages of formation]. Arkhivy Ukrainy, 6, 10–20 [in Ukrainian].16. Sribniak, I. (2018). Historia utrwalona w dokumentach : źródłowe znaczenie dokumentów archiwalnych ze zbiorów Ossolineum dla rekonstrukcji działalności Rządu Ukraińskiej Republiki Ludowej na emigracji (na przykładzie rękopisu 22/53) [History recorded in documents : the source significance of archival documents from the Ossolineum collections for the reconstruction of the activities of the Government of the Ukrainian People’s Republic in exile (based on the example of manuscript 22/53)]. Czasopismo Zakładu Narodowego im. Ossolińskich, 29, 155–173 [in Polish].17. Stępniak, W. (Ed.) (2009). Dziedzictwo archiwalne we współpracy Polski i Ukrainy [Archival heritage in cooperation between Poland and Ukraine]. Warszawa : Naczelna Dyrekcja Archiwów Państwowych, Państwowy Komitet Archiwów Ukrainy [in Polish, in Ukrainian].18. Telvak, V. (2020). Ukraińska korespondencja w zbiorach Działu Rękopisow Biblioteki Zakładu Narodowego im. Ossolińskich we Wrocławiu [Ukrainian correspondence in the collection of the Manuscript Department of the Ossoliński National Institute’s Library in Wrocław]. Czasopismo Zakładu Narodowego im. Ossolińskich, 31, 141–165 [in Polish].19. Tkachuk, O. (2021). Archiwum Towarzystwa Naukowego im. Tarasa Szewczenki w kolekcji Zakładu Narodowego im. Ossolińskich: charakterystyka i losy zbioru [Archives of the Taras Shevchenko Scientific Society in the collection of the Ossoliński National Institute : characteristics and fate of the collection]. Z Badań nad Książką i Księgozbiorami Historycznymi, 15(2), 247–291 [in Polish]. https://doi.org/10.33077/uw.25448730.zbkh.2021.66620. Wolnicki, P. (2017). Wspołpraca organow państwa odpowiedzialnych za narodowy zasob archiwalny z archiwami polonijnymi – formą zaspokajania informacyjnych potrzeb społeczeństwa. Archeion, CXVIII, 9–21 [in Polish].