Anamorphosic texts and reconfigured visions

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In Anamorphosic Texts, Maryna Romanets examines the liminal Ukrainian cultural space and its connection to Ireland, one of the earliest decolonized nations, positioning it within the postcolonial discourse and challenging the Eurocentric paradigm prevalent in much of postcolonial critique. By juxtaposing these two peripheral European literatures, she highlights a largely unexplored area of comparative typology in postcolonial cultural politics. Romanets revisits the nineteenth-century Revivalist movements of both cultures, linking their historical energies to contemporary struggles in representing their complex pasts and elusive presents. Through five interconnected essays, she analyzes the works of authors such as Kostenko, Ní Dhomhnaill, Zabuzhko, and Heaney, among others, within their sociocultural contexts. Romanets investigates how these writers utilize their traditions to create new narratives, examine the interplay of personal, national, social, and historical disjunctions, and advocate for the revision of history. By employing postcolonial, intertextual, representation, and gender theories, she uncovers the mechanisms through which Ukrainian and Irish writers engage with their traditions and colonial legacies, developing political strategies for empowerment and expression.