Democratic Futures, Utopia, and the Literary Imagination of Contemporary Ukraine

This chapter explores the enduring presence of utopia in the Eastern European context, with a specific focus on contemporary Ukraine in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union and the current Russian-Ukrainian War. Despite the widespread popular skepticism toward utopian projects, a resurgence of utopian longing for a democratic future persists, as is particularly evident in cultural manifestations. Drawing from the broad understanding of utopia as a desire for a better future, the chapter posits that, in the cultural field, the utopian genre today is not limited to any particular form. At the same time, one modality of formal expression—that of satire—has acquired prominence as an artistic vehicle for articulating utopian desire in contemporary Ukraine.