Columbia University

Serhii Tereshchenko’s research examines the relationship between images and tropes connected with Ukrainian identity in the 1930s and 1940s and their justifications for genocide politics. Since this viewpoint is too dangerous to state openly, it is instead expressed through literature; the literary devices used to do so rely on stereotypical depictions of Ukrainian culture and history for their meaning. They imagined universes in which not every Ukrainian would meet their criteria, and such a Ukrainian would have to be exterminated as a malevolent member of society. 

Serhii examines three authors with opposing political backgrounds: Ulas Samchuk, Iaroslav Halan, and Oleksandr Dovzhenko as examples of adversarial actors who, although swapping social names, advocate the methods of extermination for whatever purpose. They educate readers for environments where eliminating competitors is not only moral but also a necessity of survival.