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PhD Research · University of Pécs
Ukrainian
Science Fiction Literature & Research
1920 — 2020 
A century of Ukrainian speculative imagination — from utopian visions of techno-communism to dystopian collapse. Academic research by Oleh Shynkarenko: PhD candidate, writer, and journalist.
About the Researcher
Oleh Shynkarenko
PhD Candidate · University of Pécs, Faculty of Philosophy
I am a Ukrainian journalist, writer, and researcher with a lifelong passion for literature, philosophy, and science fiction. Born in Zaporizhzhya, Ukraine, my journey spans from engineering to creative writing, from journalism to academic research.
With 20+ years in journalism, 6 fiction books published, and 600+ articles written, I bring both a practitioner’s insight and a scholar’s rigour to the study of Ukrainian speculative literature.
Growing up where philosophy was often censored, I found intellectual refuge in Ukrainian sci-fi — works that blended profound philosophical questions with cultural resistance and visionary imagination.
Full Biography →Doctoral Research
My PhD
“From Utopia to Dystopia: Ukrainian Science Fiction and the Collapse of Techno-Communism”
1920s–30s
Utopian visions & techno-communist dreams
1940s–70s
Soviet era & underground resistance
1980s–90s
Collapse of positivism & postmodern shift
2000s–20s
Metamodernism & global connections
Postcolonial Studies
Ukraine as a cultural space under Russian imperial oppression and erasure.
Positivism & Its Decline
How sci-fi responded to the rise and fall of Soviet positivist ideology.
Metamodern Shifts
Literary oscillations and transitions after the collapse of the USSR.
Global Connections
Ukrainian sci-fi in dialogue with world science fiction traditions.
Key Figures
Featured Authors
Creative Work
My Books
How to Disappear Completely
Literary Fiction · 2006
Winner of the Smoloskyp Award. Stories where selfhood gradually unravels — spare, intimate, and faintly menacing.
Kaharlyk
Satirical Dystopia · 2014
A century after a Russian-Ukrainian war. Identity, memory and time itself become unreliable in this post-apocalyptic satire.
The First Ukrainian Robots
Science Fiction · 2016
A love triangle between a woman, her failing husband and a superior robot — a metaphor for what it means to be human.
Череп
Satire · 2017
Three bogatyrs drive a T-34 into Ukraine, deep inside their own propaganda-fed delusion. A grotesque anatomy of imperial violence.
Bandera Distortion
Historical Fiction · 2019
The space between Bandera the person and Bandera the myth — a provocation that refuses easy answers.
Academic Writing
My Articles
Theory
Metamodernism Manifesto
Read more → Cultural Studies
The Faces of War
Read more → Philosophy
Struggle for Reality
Read more → Metamodernism
Metamodern Oscillation
Read more → Literary Critique
Portrait of a Russian Intellectual as a Crocodile
Read more → Time & Narrative
Metamodern Timescapes: The Changing Image of Time
Read more → International Presence
Conferences & Presentations
2026
AATSEEL 2026 — American Association of Teachers of Slavic & East European Languages
New Orleans, LA, USA
2026
Philosophy in Technology – PinT 5th Edition
Wrocław, Poland
2025
Budapest Workshop on Philosophy and Technology 2025
Budapest, Hungary
2025
Young Philosophers Conference 2025 — National University of Public Service
Budapest, Hungary
2025
Contexts VIII — International Interdisciplinary Conference for Young Scholars
Novi Sad, Serbia
2025
Interdisciplinary Doctoral Student Conference (IDK2025)
Pécs, Hungary
2024
Interdisciplinary Doctoral Student Conference (IDK2024) Award
Pécs, Hungary
2023
Budapest Workshop on Philosophy and Technology 2023 Keynote
Budapest, Hungary
Explore More
Dive into Ukrainian Sci-Fi
From Kasyanyuk’s techno-communist dreams to Berezhnyi’s dystopian worlds — discover a century of speculative imagination and cultural resistance.