THE PROBLEMS OF MAZEPIST EMIGRATION IN RESEARCH HERITAGE OF OREST SUBTELNY

Abstract

In the article the first attempt is made to evaluate Orest Subtelny’s contribution to the research of the so called Mazepist emigration. For this purpose, the author considers the contribution from two main perspectives: thematic and conceptual. Orest Subtelny’s research work, which is analyzed in the paper, selectively covers four topics from the history of the first period of Ukrainian emigration: the problem of the political aim of Mazepist emigration, the core problems of the international relations between Orlyk and different countries, the problem of the investigation of Orlyk’s Diariush as the source for the general diplomatic history of that period, and the attempt to encompass political emigres of several East European countries and as an entity phenomenon.
Through the use of the archival and library sources, the author finds that at different stages of life in the time span of 1970–1990s the problems of Mazepist emigration played a critical role in research of the famous Canadian historian, being the object of his professional interest. Explaining the evolution of Subtelny’s vision of significant problems of the Mazepist emigration, the author concludes that the historian succeeded in possessing the decisive role in the solution of the number of the main research problems of this phenomenon, and was successful in the pioneering formulation of its vision and in proposing an individual attempt to provide an academic solution. This evolution is reflected in a series of monographs, articles, and speeches, written by a scholar mainly in the most mature periods of scholarly creativity – in the time span of 1970–1990s.