Religion and National Consciousness through the Prism of Biographical Studies
Book Review: Medvid' I. Prorok chy ieretyk? Relihijnyj svitohliad Ivana Franka ta joho vzaiemyny z dukhovenstvom. L'viv: Vydavnytstvo Ukrains'koho katolyts'koho universytetu, 2023. 424 s. (Seriia «Biblioteka Domu Franka». Vyp. 16)
Abstract
The review shows that Ihor Medvid’s monograph “Prophet or Heretic? The Religious Worldview of Ivan Franko and His Relations with Clergy” offers novel insights into Franko’s biography, the intellectual history of Ukraine in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, history of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, and related subjects. The reviewer calls for further research into Franko’s religiosity, particularly through the application of content analysis and the methodological framework of the Cambridge school of intellectual history. Promising avenues for more in-depth study also include Franko’s perspectives on Freemasonry, Gnosticism, and Buddhism. The review further considers the influence of the constructivist theory of the nation, adopted by Medvid, on the book’s arguments and conclusions. Finally, the reviewer notes the need for a more precise conceptualization of the term “modernity”, which is employed in the monograph to delineate the context within which Franko’s religious worldview was formed.
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