Ukrainian academic biography: the invention of the form (biographical studies in the context of revolutionary transformations of the early twentieth century)

The Ukrainian academic biography science has been analyzed as a phenomenon, the specifics of which were determined by historical, cultural and sociopolitical transformations caused by revolutionary events of the beginning of the twentieth century. The Ukrainian biographical science in the context of revolutionary transformations of the early 20th century covers the range of issues, the study of which provides for understanding and comprehension of the scope and potential of this unique and complex phenomenon. The changes of political situation, radical moods, expectations, and illusions which characterized the Ukrainian Revolution, have outlined the main contours and the format of the national biographical discourse. The controversy surrounding various forms of biographical presentations showed the “fights” for biographies of heroes in the national context. Despite ambiguous historical, cultural and political realities, academic biography acquired many meanings, creating the space of multidirectional communication with the respective participants of the dialogue (intellectual elite - society, author - critic, author - government, historians - publicists - writers), transforming the Ukrainian historiography with the shift in emphases, functioning as “texts of influence”, oriented on the intensification of the (self)identity, historical memory, overcoming the complexes of national minority in the people consciousness. The academic biography science is analyzed as a space of multidirectional communication and as a component of the Ukrainian historiography. Special attention has been paid to the strategy, mechanisms, language, genre features, and tools of biographical discourse.