Why Shevchenko Is Still Central to Ukrainian Identity - with Rory Finnin

Why does Taras Shevchenko remain the central figure of Ukrainian culture? Why is a poet who lived in the 19th century still perceived in Ukraine almost as a contemporary?

How does Shevchenko’s understanding of time and history differ from our present-day perspective, so focused on the immediate moment and often lacking the depth of historical memory? And how did he articulate powerful anticolonial ideas as early as the 19th century — particularly through his empathy and solidarity with other oppressed peoples?

This is the Explaining Ukraine podcast.

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Host: Volodymyr Yermolenko, a Ukrainian philosopher, editor-in-chief of UkraineWorld, and president of PEN Ukraine.

Guest: Rory Finnin, the Notre Dame Collegiate Mission Chair in Ukrainian Studies and Global Affairs and director of the Ukrainian Studies Hub at the University of Notre Dame. He is a scholar of Ukrainian culture, literature, and identity, and the author of the award-winning book Blood of Others: Stalin’s Crimean Atrocity and the Poetics of Solidarity.

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Explaining Ukraine is a podcast by UkraineWorld, an English-language media outlet about Ukraine brought to you by Internews Ukraine.

We thank the Ukrainian History Global Initiative for helping us to organize this conversation.

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Listen on various platforms: https://li.sten.to/explaining-ukraine

UkraineWorld: https://ukraineworld.org/en