Ukrainian Encyclopaedic Tradition of the 20th Century

The article deals with the history of the most important and iconic (for the Ukrainian national identity) encyclopaedic projects of the 20th century. The author compares the stages of creation of the synthetic editions in the pre-Soviet and Soviet period, analysing the experience of the Ukrainian diaspora in the West preoccupied with this enterprise. A particular attention is paid to the methodological issues, approaches, tools, and methods of organizing, structuring, and integrating the encyclopaedic materials. The use of historical, synthetic, and comparative methods leads to the conclusion that none of the analysed encyclopaedias is ideal, each of them being marked by the pressure of political regime and significant ideological commitment.