The Polish-Ukrainian border is a political construct that divided the historical region of Galicia after World War II. However, Galicia represents a unique space where different cultures and nations met and lived together in the past: Ukrainians, Poles, Jews, Germans. At the same time, the geopolitical interests of various regional powers were reflected here and thus influenced the region's political development. On the one hand, they imprinted a specific economic, demographic, and settlement structure. On the other hand, they formed the political environment - they established institutions, influenced inter-community relations, and laid the foundations for political culture. The region was also a place of world wars and national cleansing because of them.
Although Galicia has been divided between Ukraine and Poland for over 75 years, there are still traces of a shared past and historical events in the countryside and cities. Public buildings, their architecture, monuments, cemeteries, etc., recall what was shared and what divided the local people. This conference paper aims to map certain events and their traces, places, and their symbolism, that represent a link or a divider for the current inhabitants of Galicia on both sides of the border. At the same time, it has the ambition to contribute to the debate on the existence of phantom borders and regions and bring a different perspective - can there be a common regional identity even though the region has long been divided between two states and has been entirely socially transformed?
The findings will be based on a field research conducted in Przemysl and Lviv in the autumn of 2021 and the spring of 2022.
Mots clés : Galicia|Phantom region|Borderland|Identity|Symbolism
A103885LJ