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Society. Document. Communication

Article

Documenting and archiving materials on the development of kickboxing in Ukraine: The source base of periodicals from the late 20th to early 21st century

Vitalii Kotsur, Olga Pavlenko
Retrieved from Volume 11, No. 2, 2026 Pages 58–71
Received
19.12.2025
Revised
08.04.2026
Accepted
12.05.2026
Published
30.05.2026
Views
32

Abstract

The aim of the paper was to establish the source potential of national, regional, and specialised press in documenting the development of kickboxing in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The research methodology combined content analysis of periodicals, historical-chronological and comparative methods, as well as source criticism and analysis of the serial completeness of archival holdings to assess the representativeness of the source base. As a result, it was established that the central press fulfilled a normative-legitimising function, documenting kickboxing primarily in the format of nationally significant events and standardising its description through reportage genres. The research determined that these publications ensured systematic documentary recording of sporting events by regularly reproducing dates and venues of competitions, the quantitative and personal composition of participants, and their organisational and federative affiliation. While the 2000s saw a shift towards institutionally organised coverage using statistical parameters, chronological logic, and recognised disciplinary nomenclature, content analysis of materials from the late 1980s to the mid-1990s revealed fragmented coverage, genre instability, and terminological inconsistency in references. The development of sections, club activities, coaches’ biographies, and popular participation in events have all been documented by regional and district press, which has been shown to be the primary source of information about local sports infrastructure. It is shown that specialised sports periodicals and federative protocol materials enabled the verification of newspaper reports and enhanced the source accuracy of reconstructions. The conclusions substantiate the expediency of a comprehensive use of periodicals from different levels for reconstructing the history of kickboxing. The practical significance of the research results lies in their potential use by libraries and archives at national and regional levels for archival description, identifying gaps in newspaper/magazine runs, and determining priorities for digitising sports periodicals related to the development of kickboxing in Ukraine

Keywords

source studies; rubric; digitisation; reportage; journalism

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Suggested citation

Kotsur, V., & Pavlenko, O. (2026). Documenting and archiving materials on the development of kickboxing in Ukraine: The source base of periodicals from the late 20th to early 21st century. Society. Document. Communication, 11(2), 58-71. https://doi.org/10.69587/sdc/2.2026.58