Ukraine-Russia Relations: Case Study Or Challenge For Decolonial Theory?
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Date
2025
Authors
Kobchenko, Natalia
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Abstract
Review of : Biedarieva, Svitlana. Ambicoloniality and War: The Ukrainian-
Russian Case. Palgrave Macmillan Cham, 2025. The development of postcolonial studies has reached such a potent level as of now, enabling it to answer many difficult questions regarding the relationships between former colonizers and former colonized. At the same time, considerable criticism has been voiced in connection with the postcolonial approach being applied to researching the past and present of Ukraine. Russia’s war against Ukraine, in particular its full-scale stage, on the one hand, has reduced some notes of caution regarding the appropriateness of applying postcolonial and decolonial lenses to studying Ukrainian history and contemporary issues, and, on the other hand, raised some methodological questions, challenging some established frameworks. In this context, the release of Svitlana Biedarieva’s book is very timely. On the one hand, it clarifies certain issues in the discussion about the colonial status of Ukraine, and, on the other hand, it initiates a completely new discussion – on the concept of ambicoloniality. In my opinion, the dual role of this book is determined by the motives that encouraged the author to write it, their aims, the object of research, and the dynamics of the academic field. In my view, understanding these four points is the key to interpreting the book.
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Keywords
Ukraine, Russia, Russia’s war against Ukraine, colonial status of Ukraine, review
Citation
Kobchenko N. Ukraine-Russia Relations: Case Study Or Challenge For Decolonial Theory? / Natalia Kobchenko // Мова: класичне - модерне - постмодерне. - 2025. - Вип. 11 (спеціальний випуск). - С. 227-237.