THE INTELLECTUAL SUPPORT OF RESTORING UKRAINE’S INDEPENDENCE: COLLABORATION BETWEEN UKRAINIANS IN UKRAINE AND ABROAD (DEDICATED TO THE 30th ANNIVERSARY OF UKRAINE’S INDEPENDENCE)

The author of the article analyzes the collaboration of the domestic and foreign Ukrainians alike in the perennial intellectual support of restoring Ukraine‟s independence. The most important figures in this process were: V. Antonovych, M. Hrushevsky, M. Kostomarov, A. Krymsky, M. Maksymovych, I. Ogienko, O. Potebnya; V. Vytvytsky, M. Globenko, V. Holubnychy, S. Hordynsky, E. Glovinsky, D. Dontsov, A. Zhukovsky, Z.E. Kohut, I. Koshelivets, B. Kravtsiv, I. Krypyakevych, V. Kubiyovych, Z. Kuzelya, Y. Kuchabsky, V. Markus, M. Mikhnovsky, O. Ogloblin, E. Onatsky, J. asternak, E.-Yu. Pelensky, V. Petrov, S. Plokhii, N. Polonska-Vasylenko, O. Pritsak, I. Rakovsky, S. Rudnytsky, S. Smal-Stotsky, M. Stakhiv, O. Subtelny, A. Figol, V. Khvoyka, M. Chubaty, V. Shcherbakivsky, S. Yaniv; V. Balushok, V. Baran, M. Braichevsky, I. Gel, P. Grigorenko, J. Dashkevych, I. Dziuba, I. Drach, M. Zhulynsky, L. Zaliznyak, J. Isayevych, J. Kalakura, I. Kandyba, P. Kononenko, L. Lukyanenko, O. Nelga, G. Pivtorak, M. Popovych, O. Romanov, M. Rudenko, E. Sverstyuk, S. Segeda, V. Sergiychuk, V. Smoliy, V. Stus, M. Tymoshyk, V. Chornovil and others. The publishing of „Encyclopedia of Ukraine‟ was an extremely important event that became the means to centralize the worldview of the meaning field of the Ukrainian identity. „Encyclopedia of Ukraine‟ (Professor Volodymyr Kubiyovych, chief editor) is a scientific publication that combines the most significant systemized information in different scientific branches about the Ukrainianship, Ukraine, and Ukrainian world. Since Ukraine's study has a huge worldview potential, it is necessary to further fortify its influence on the forming of a complete worldview and common identity of Ukrainian citizens. We know that any political, economic, historical, and ethnocultural information requires the meaning processing when it is being studied. Because meaning is a unit of inner world of identity (O. Leontiev), while „the strive for the meaning‟ is one of the most efficient motivators of person's tendencies, and once it‟s gone people get trapped in an existential vacuum, alienation, depression, despair, etc. (V. Frankl). The meaning throughout the entire „Encyclopedia of Ukraine‟ could become a determinant of the worldview formation of the meaning field in Ukrainian identity (both personal and general). So, „Encyclopedia of Ukraine‟ with meaningful information and different forms (signs, symbols, images, axiological, etc.) of meaning representation may become a source of Ukraine‟s study competency and a system forming factor of centralizing the worldview of the meaning field of the Ukrainian identity, which was provided by the process of intellectual support of Ukraine's independence.