The Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has confirmed not only the centrality of energy to the war, but also the importance of Ukraine to global energy policy, with its far-reaching economic, environmental, and cultural consequences. This will explore the concept of energy as a shaping force in Ukrainian cultural and political history; the aesthetics of particular energy sources (fossil fuels, nuclear energy, renewables) in Ukrainian literature, film, and other media; the Russia-Ukraine energy nexus; Ukrainian energy markets; and environmental effects of energy production, consumption, and catastrophe. In several Ukrainian regions industrial revolution started in the second half of the 19th century, both within the Russian Empire (Donbass) and the Austro-Hungarian Empire (Galicia). With the establishment of Soviet power in most of the territory of modern Ukraine, a steady course towards the socialist industrialization of the country began, which unfolded in full swing by the end of the 1920s. The construction of a new socialist society involved modernization of all spheres of public life, including literature and art. Professor Galina Babak’s presentation will address the issue of how the process of Soviet modernization and industrialization (electrification, coal, and oil industries) was represented in literature of that time.
New York City, NY; NYC