Borderland: A Journey through the History of Ukraine

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Summary: Borderland: a Journey through the History of Ukraine
Review: Ukraine is a Polish designation of territories of Inner (Kiev or Southern) Rus, given to it in the wake of the Polish take-over of the land in the Middle Ages. The term also has counterparts both in Russian and modern Ukrainian, all conveying the general sense of a territory or country. True, a related meaning is that of (border)-land, but its use in English tends to overstate the "border" part at the expense of the land. Use of the term "Ukraine" in the Slavic languages, both then and now, has been widespread as a generic description of an outlying region. In fact in Ukrainian, "Ukraine" (Ukraina) is but a perfect rendition of the term for "country" (Kraina). It appears to confirm a purely geographical origin of the name. Both in Russian and Ukrainian a similar word - Krai - covers a diversity of meanings ranging from "country", "territory" to "extremity", "boundary." With time, due to a variety of reasons, the territory gave up its ancient, original name (Rus or Russia, depending on Slavic or Greek redaction). That was a rational choice and a deliberate act, forged in the 19th century by separatist elements in Russian and Austria-Hungary keen on disowning the Russian heritage and legitimized by the Communist regime in Russia. Since after the Bolshevik victory in Russia the country became known as Ukraine.