Svitlana Zhabotynska
The name UKROPEDIA blends the words of the Ukrainian phrase УКРаїнський ОПір / UKRajinskyi OPir (‘Ukrainian resistance’). This name reflects the platform’s core objective: to showcase Ukraine’s national identity through a comprehensive narrative that counters superficial, distorted stories manufactured and spread globally by Russia.
The suffix -edia in the name conventionally refers to encyclopedia. Like in other digital platforms, it highlights a continuously updated database of structured information. However, Ukropedia differs from typical -edia projects in two key aspects. First, it is managed by a dedicated academic volunteer group rather than a global crowdsourced community. Second, instead of the standard ‘text + references’ format, it uses an inverted ‘reference + text‘ pattern. Essentially, Ukropedia is a curated collection of thematically organised links to online resources, where each link (or group of links) is paired with a concise summary.
Consequently, Ukropedia introduces a new textual type: the ‘bricolage text.’ True to the concept of bricolage, such text represents a completely new work created from readily available digital materials. These materials represent an immense body of popular, non-scholarly online articles and videos which explore diverse dimensions of Ukraine’s heritage and national identity, and which are currently scattered across the vastness of the internet.
The term Ukropedia may become a brand name for any similar bricolage text featuring Ukraine. In this specific case, it is “Ukropedia: Ukraine’s Heritage”, with heritage broadly understood as all that is encompassed by national identity. Other potential projects under this brand could focus on different facets of the country, such as its politics, economy, or armed forces. The present version of Ukropedia is in English, as it is addressed to an international audience. However, depending on the language of the curated sources, future projects could target international audiences who speak other than English languages, as well as Ukrainians (to provide in-depth multifaceted information about their country) or Russians (whose understanding of Ukraine tends to be scarce and heavily distorted).
The main distinction of Ukropedia that sets it apart from other ‘-edia’ online projects is its thematic arrangement. While traditional collections of online data are arranged like an alphabetical dictionary, Ukropedia employs the framework of an ideographic dictionary, which is structured thematically rather than alphabetically. The thematic design of Ukropedia is grounded in a conceptual ontology that provides a hierarchical arrangement of the miscellaneous information into a coherent and cohesive whole. As an information space, ‘Ukraine’s heritage’ is divided into two conceptual domains: ‘Ukrainian heritage (proper)’ and ‘Ukrainian heritage under Russia’s attack.’ The first domain comprises eight sub-domains, while the second contains five. Each sub-domain includes parcels composed of sub-parcels which may be further divided into thematic quanta. These sub-parcels (or thematic quanta) contain several annotated links to online materials that are thus thematically classified across multiple hierarchical conceptual levels.
Detailed map of the platform (PDF)
The above hierarchical structure provides a navigation guide for the user within this thematic link library: Domain > Sub-domain > Parcel > Sub-parcel ( > Thematic quantum) > Annotated links.
E.g. 1. UKRAINIAN HERITAGE > 1.2. HISTORY > 1.2.5. Ukrainian Cossack State > 1.2.5.5. Cossack’s life > Life of a warrior (annotated links).
