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Social Science General

Kaleidoscopic Odessa

History and Place in Contemporary Ukraine

by (author) Tanya Richardson

Publisher
University of Toronto Press
Initial publish date
Aug 2008
Category
General
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780802098375
    Publish Date
    Aug 2008
    List Price
    $100.00
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780802095633
    Publish Date
    Aug 2008
    List Price
    $47.95
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781442692879
    Publish Date
    Aug 2008
    List Price
    $35.95
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781442688438
    Publish Date
    Aug 2008
    List Price
    $87.00

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Description

The recent tumult of Ukraine's Orange Revolution and its aftermath has exposed some of the deep political, social, and cultural divisions that run through the former Soviet republic. Examining Odessa, the Black Sea port that was once the Russian Empire's southern window onto Europe, Kaleidoscopic Odessa provides an ethnographic portrait of these overlapping divisions in a city where many residents consider themselves separate and distinct from Ukraine.

Exploring the tensions between local and national identities in a post-Soviet setting from the point of view of everyday life, Tanya Richardson argues that Odessans's sense of distinctiveness is both unique and typical of borderland countries such as Ukraine. Kaleidoscopic Odessa provides a detailed account of how local conceptions of imperial cosmopolitanism shaped the city's identity in a newly formed state. Richardson draws on her participation in history lessons, markets, and walking groups to produce an exemplary study of urban ethnography.

Ethnographically sophisticated and methodologically innovative, Kaleidoscopic Odessa will interest anthropologists, Slavists, sociologists, historians, and scholars of urban studies.

About the author

Tanya Richardson is an assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology at Wilfrid Laurier University.

Tanya Richardson's profile page