SUMMARY:

This is a contribution to the forum “Conceptualizing National Modernism” inspired by the publication of the new book by Galina Babak and Alexander Dmitriev, The Atlantis of Soviet National Modernism: The Formal Method in Ukraine (1920s–Early 1930s) (Moscow: NLO, 2021). Responding to the forum participants, Babak and Dmitriev clarify their methodological positions and address criticisms. They discard some of the critical comments pointing out that their book was conceived as a study of a specific phenomenon – national modernism – rather than as a comprehensive study of Ukrainian literary culture as a whole in the 1920s. Writing in late February 2022, Babak and Dmitriev conclude that the fate of Ukrainian self-determination – cultural and political – is being decided not in the pages of books but on the battlefield. But the time will come for new books on the topic to continue their work.