Language Policy in Ukraine: What People Want the State to Do (original) (raw)
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From Russification to Ukrainisation: A Survey of Language Politics in Ukraine
Throughout the twentieth century, inhabitants of Ukraine experienced many drastic changes in linguistic identity as a result of the establishment of the Soviet Union and the attempts to "unify" Russia with its neighboring countries and then once more when Ukraine gained its independence in 1991. As a result of shifting language policies, a situation has presented itself in which some Ukrainians claim Ukrainian as their native language, but not all. Others who feel they are ethnically Ukrainian speak Russian as their native language, and some even speak a variety of mixed language, which many native Ukrainians refer to as surzhyk. Since Ukraine’s independence, political awareness of the current linguistic situation has led to the exclusive use of Ukrainian in an effort to help it reemerge as the official language of the state. Major recent policies have targeted the media especially, due to the fact that media has a major effect on populations, and it had previously been presented almost entirely in Russian. However, an interesting situation has developed in that media outlets are finding ways around these rules by having two presenters: one in Russian and one in Ukrainian, reflecting the linguistic divide in Ukraine. This overview of the current linguistic situation in Ukraine will serve to show the reasons for the current language policies and exactly how far these policies have extended.
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Ukrainian nation building was aided by the system of institutions inherited from the USSR (relatively clearly marked inner and outer borders, a parliament, ministries, representation in the UN etc.), but, at the same time, made difficult by the Russian community living in Ukraine, which became a minority overnight. The presence of the sizeable Russian community has been felt primarily in the Ukrainian–Russian language struggles. Some researchers and the specialists of international organizations have repeatedly pointed out that the question of languages is heavily politicized in Ukraine, and the fact that it is not clearly settled can lead to the emergence of language ideologies as well as to conflicts of ethnic groups and languages. It is no coincidence that the Law on National Security regards, in Article 6, the settling of the language issue as a priority among the country’s national interests. The aim of the present paper through the comparative analysis of four linguistic rights documents, We will show how the Ukrainian political elite attempted to maintain, between 1989 and 2014, the social equilibrium through introducing legislation aimed to regulate language use.
Transition in language policy of Ukraine (1989–2014)
At the time of writing this article ethnic relations and language policy (LP) of Ukraine are in the focus of national and international attention due to the ongoing military conflict between Ukraine and Russia and its ethnic/linguistic roots. As far as LP is concerned, today we are right in the middle of a new wave of transition in Ukraine. Since the political takeover in 2014, the present language law (LL 2012) became a target associated with the previous Russophile political regime, and consequently, its days are numbered. However, it is not the first wave of changes since the country gained its independence: within the past 25 years we can differentiate at least four main periods in LP, which – oftentimes – maintained totally contradicting directions reflecting the complex linguistic situation and its fragile balance in Ukraine.
BILINGUALISM IN UKRAINE: VALUE OR CHALLENGE
Several analyses have summarized the linguistic situation of Ukraine, highlighting various aspects of the problematic issues of Ukraine's language policy. The fundamental problems of the linguistic situation in Ukraine are the lack of consensus regarding the issue of what role the Ukrainian language has in constructing the new post-Soviet identity and in nation building, what status the Russian language should be given in Ukraine. According to the data from the 2001 census, 80% of the adult population of Ukraine speak (at least) one other language fluently in addition to their mother tongue. In the country it is clear that the reality in most of Ukraine is of bilingualism. Almost everyone in Ukraine is bilingual; to varying degrees, a fundamental characteristic of the language situation in Ukraine is bilingualism of society. In spite of this, due to negative historical experiences, bilingualism is stigmatized in Ukraine, and that makes codification of bilingualism impossible on the state level. The paper shows the attitude of the political elite that took power after the overthrow of President Viktor Yanukovych towards the issue of bilingualism. We present how the linguists and representatives of the intellectuals comment on the bilingualism in Ukraine. The primordial, national romantic view that makes the Ukrainian language and the (free and independent) Ukrainian nation the same nowadays strongly dominates in Ukraine.
Linguistic Policy and the Securing of National Identity in Today’s Society. The Ukrainian Case
STRATEGIES XXI - Security and Defense Faculty, 2021
Our study takes into consideration the consequences of the linguistic legislation adopted by Kiev in recent years in order to secure the identity of the existing national minorities. It also tackles the potential conflicts between the Ukraine and its neighbouring states with regard to the observing of the cultural rights of the minority groups. The issue of the use of regional languages fits into the category of the highly ideological and politicized matters in the Ukraine.
Nationalities Papers, 2011
Basque party Herri Batasuna as "the voice of those who have no voice in Europe", p. 159). My overall impression of this book is positive. The comparative approach has been underused in studies of the political history of the Caucasus. Sabanadze lays the groundwork and deconstructs some of the key concepts for future work in this direction. Her case study of Georgian nationalism draws on Georgian-language sources, including some hardto-find periodicals, which are inaccessible to many foreign commentators. The book is attractively bound and printed, but the syntactic and lexical infelicities cropping up here and there in the text indicate that the manuscript should have been looked over one last time by a proofreader.
On 25 April, the Supreme Council of Ukraine passed a law guaranteeing the role of the Ukrain-ian language as the state language. The act was passed with a significant majority (278 in favour, 38 against), and was signed into law by President Petro Poroshenko on 15 May. This is not an act on the state's language policy, but the role of the official language in the life of the country. The act is clearly aimed at eliminating Russian from as many spheres of community life in Ukraine as possible, especially from education and the media. The other, equally important task is to ensure development, standardisation, and modernisation of the Ukrainian language where there are currently shortcomings. The act, which was originally intended to be an instrument in Petro Poroshenko's presidential campaign, will be used in the campaign for the early parliamentary elections of 21 July by the former president's party and other groupings that form the broad anti-Russian camp. Opponents of the new act will probably contest it before the Constitutional Court, but rulings cannot be expected before the election. For the moment, it is unclear what position President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will take on the new act. It is possible that he will wish to amend some provisions. On one hand, during the presidential campaign, he frequently stated that the rights of the Russian-speaking population had to be guaranteed, while on the other his supporters include a large number of proponents of radical Ukrainization, whose support will be important to Zelenskiy in the parliamentary election.
Russian Language in Ukraine: Does it Concern Only Russians?
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2011
Russian language in Ukraine: does it concern only Russians? Kseniia URSULENKO* This paper examines the problem of current status of the Russian language in Ukraine. Based on the data of a monitoring "Ukrainian society" conducted by the Institute of Sociology (Kyiv) on the yearly basis since 1994, I define the factors that influence people's attitudes toward the Russian language. The focus of the analysis is on the individual-and regional-level effects. The results show that there is a significant regional effect on the degree of support of the Russian language: the more Russian-speaking people live in the oblast (administrative unit), the more likely people from this oblast are to support the official status of the Russian language. In the meantime, no nationality effect was revealed suggesting that Ukrainians and Russians do not differ in the level of support of the official status for the Russian language in Ukraine.