Lviv as a Mirror: Mutual Images of Lviv Residents in the Narratives of the 20th-21th Centuries

Over the course of recent years, researchers have beсome more and more interested in the image, myth and place of Lviv in literature, memoirs, historic narratives and collective memory. Lviv is a highly important city both for Ukrainians and for Poles, while Jews, Russians and Armenians also wrote and talked about it.

We suggested looking at texts about Lviv which offer a different angle, focusing on the mutual images of different groups of the city’s inhabitants as well as their claims to such images – their own and somebody else’s.

The following topics were presented:

• Declared/real multiculturality in art visions as well as works from culture studies, literature studies, language studies, history and so on
• Influence on the literature of political and historic debates of the national identity of Lviv
• Different interpretations of historic events
• The change of the image of Lviv within one national discourse
• Lviv as a city and territory (friendly or alien)
• Which nationalities, and to which extent, are of interest to authors; the role of these nationalities in literature
• Ways of creating and using the myth of Lviv – especially the myth of the "Leopolis multiplex" – in literature, as well as in printed media and scientific works
• The image of the stranger, neighbor, friend, or companion from another ethnic group

The conference consisted of two parts: a presentation of research results and round table discussion.

Languages: Ukrainian and Polish.

Organizers:
Center for Urban History of East Central Europe (Lviv)
Institute for Slavic Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences (Warsaw)

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