«I WOULD LIKE TO BE ON THE LVIV SIDEWALK ONCE AGAIN, TO SEE MANY DIFFERENT FACES AND A BUSTLING LIFE»: LVIV IN MINDS OF THE UKRAINIAN INTELLECTUALS OF HALYCHYNA IN THE LATE 19TH – EARLY 20TH CENTURY

Abstract

The paper tries to outline the image of Lviv through a lens of its perception by Ukrainian intellectuals at that time based on private correspondence and memoirs. It is stated that for the Ukrainian intellectuals, Lviv played not only a symbolic role but also a very practical one: it was a city where one can get an education and wide opportunities for a successful career, attend the brightest cultural events or take a rest in local cafes (Lviv as a social center). Intelligentsia often could change their attitude about the city: from admiration to disappointment, or vice versa - from vigilance to a new unusual urban life to a harmonious inclusion in its environment. The most common idea about Lviv was that it was a city where something always happened, unlike the province, and the people of Lviv always had to be in a whirlpool of events. Therefore, intelligentsia often went to Lviv to learn the fi rst news, meet with comrades, buy newspapers, books, work in libraries, attend concerts, theater performances, balls, which they mentioned in correspondence and memoirs. Lviv was also the center of national movements, where the main social and political, cultural and scientifi c societies and organizations were located. It infl uenced the formation of urban space and the nature of social relations in the city. One of the most important factors that infl uenced the formation of the image of Lviv was its social space: positive or negative one, it depended on the inclusion or rejection of Lviv society. Ukrainian intellectuals associated their greatest expectations with social space, the presence of which determined the strategy of roles for self-realization. The national specifi city of the region, in particular the Polish-Ukrainian rivalry, left a certain imprint on the social space and on the perception of the city itself. Although Ukrainian intellectuals often had to fulfi ll their ambitions outside Lviv, they visited the city on a regular basis. Lviv continued to be the coordinating center in minds of the intellectuals through which everything was decided, managed and «refracted».