CROATIAN-UKRAINIAN RELATIONS IN ZDRAVKA ZLODI’S STUDIES

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the consideration of the works by a Croatian historian Zdravka Zlodi, due attention being paid to their research value. In addition, her exploration of Croatian-Ukrainian contacts is also described in the paper, which appears to be highly relevant in the face of today’s challenges that Ukraine is currently facing in relations with its neighbouring countries and the Ukrainian diaspora in those countries. Moreover, the article includes a profound analysis of Zdravka Zlodi’s main ideas, concepts and points together with exposing her views on the question of the identity of Ruthenians in Croatia and the problem of usage of the term “Ruthenia”.
In her article “Ruthenians/Ukrainians in Croatia: the stages of immigration and the problem of names”, Zdravka Zlodi provides a detailed study of the changes of ethnic self-determination of the Ruthenians and Ukrainians from the 18th to the 20th century. A specific emphasis is placed on the conditions which played a key role in moulding ethnic and cultural identity as well as changes in forms of the ethnonym denoting the representatives of Ukrainian diaspora (Ruthenian, Ruthenian-Ukrainian, Ukrainian). Zdravka Zlodi states that despite some differences in the ethnonyms applied, the ethnic identity of the Ukrainian-Ruthenian minority cannot be questioned.
Her another work, “The Ruthenians about Themselves on the Pages of the “Rus News”, is dedicated to self-identification of the Ruthenians in Croatia in the interwar period. In the monograph “From the Family to the Name. Introduction to the History of Croatian-Ukrainian Relations”, Zdravka Zlodi endeavours to explain the duality of the name “Ruthenian/Ukrainian” on the territory of Croatia. Furthermore, the historian arrives at the conclusion which allows to consider both terms identical.
Zdravka Zlodi is the first researcher in Croatian historical science who proposed a new approach to historical names and ethnonyms connected with the history of Ukraine. Finally, the author of the present paper draws the conclusion stating the importance of Zdravka Zlodi’s research work for further development of Ukrainian-Croatian research cooperation.