Malaya, H.D. Memoirs as a source on the history of the dissident movement in the Ukrainian SSR (1960s–1980s). – Qualifying scientific work on manuscript rights.
Thesis for a degree of Doctor of Philosophy in specialty 032 “History and Archaeology” – Institute of History of Ukraine, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv, 2026.
The thesis is devoted to a source-critical analysis of memoirs as historical and photographical sources for the study of the dissident movement in the Ukrainian SSR during the 1960s–1980s. The study examines the formation of the corpus of memoir sources, informational potential, degree of representativeness, and the particularities of their use in reconstructing the history of the Ukrainian dissident movement.
The aim of the study is to analyse published dissident memoirs as a source for a comprehensive examination of the dissident movement in the Ukrainian SSR during the 1960s–1980s, to determine their informational potential, level of reliability, their suitability for reconstructing historical events and creating prosopographical portrait of movement participants.
The source base of the dissertation consists of a corpus of personal-origin sources, classified by type into three groups: correspondence, diary entries, and memoirs, among which the memoirs are further structured according to a classification that distinguishes between memoirs about historical events, autobiographical recollections, and biographical memoirs.
Methodologically, the study combines source criticism with contemporary approaches to the analysis of ego-sources, foremost among which is narratological analysis as a means of examining how the memoirist constructs the narrative, selects and orders episodes from their own experience, and constructs the image of the autobiographical “self” and the image of the “other.” The theoretical framework is
complemented by concepts of collective memory and post-memory, which enable the study of the interconnection between individual memories and a community’s shared perceptions of the past, as well as the tools of prosopography, aimed at reconstructing the social environment of a dissident community lacking a formalized organizational structure.
Research into self-representation and self-reflection in memoirs revealed a process of dual identity formation among movement participants, in which Soviet selfidentification coexisted for a long time with national self-awareness. For many future dissidents, the realization of national identity began with a sense of limitation in cultural and linguistic expression in the official Soviet sphere, while the policy of Russification, served as a marker of deeper structural contradictions of the Soviet order. In the early stages, this awareness was not yet accompanied by open opposition to the Soviet system: most future dissidents believed in the possibility of reforming the system, and the end of the “Thaw” triggered a personal crisis for this generation, after which cultural and linguistic self-awareness transformed into a political stance.
The application of prosopography’s methods in the analysis of memoirs made it possible to reconstruct a collective portrait of the dissident community. The memoirist models not only his own biography but also the network of relationships within which it unfolded. Given the absence of a formal organizational structure within the movement, the focus is on the circle of trusted acquaintances, the mechanisms for
recruitment into the opposition community, and the forms of solidarity.
The study identifies the distinctive features of the cultural and intellectual milieu of the dissident movement, particularly in Kyiv as one of its main centres. The expansion of opportunities for cultural self-expression during the “Thaw” gradually became a target of state control, leading to a shift of intellectual contacts, creative gatherings, and discussions of literature and art into informal private spaces – primarily apartments and workshops.
It has been observed that the retrospective character of memoirs shapes the way events of the dissident movement are represented: authors give them narrative coherence by integrating turning points, such as the end of the “Thaw,” waves of arrests, trials, and the emergence of human rights and civic organizations, into a single narrative of the development of their own convictions, while the memoirs retain a
plurality of interpretations, reflecting the internal heterogeneity of the dissident community.
Keywords: memoirs, sources of personal origin, prosopography, Ukrainian memoir tradition, historical memory, dissident movement, national movement, selfpublishing, repressions, propaganda, Soviet totalitarian regime, KGB of the Ukrainian SSR, “perebudova” (“perestroika”), Ukraine, USSR.
