Ukraine in Eurovision song contest

 

Identity in Ukraine and what affected it throughout the years.

The topic of national identity and its forming process is a tricky question as a lot of different factors either inside or outside of countries are affecting national identity. Another reason for being so complicated is its broad definition, every person views national identity slightly differently. However, to discuss national identity it is needed to mention definition which will be used to describe it. Talking about the nation, I`ll refer to the definition from the article “National identity and the `other`” by Anna Triandafyllidou (1998). She states that a nation is a population which shares culture, history, and territory. These people have common myths, economy and share the same rights. In addition, she also mentions that nationality is something that you feel. It is a sense of belonging and feeling of being bonded to your country and society.  

Ukraine is a quite complicated country itself. History, culture, traditions, and language have stood the test of time to help create Ukrainian national identity. Many years of Russian repressions and attempts of taking over Ukrainian territory, intentional genocides of Ukrainian society in 1932 which is called Holodomor, man-made famine that the Soviet republic of Ukraine experienced from 1932 to 1933 (Applebaum, 2022) and in 2022, Russian invasion of Ukraine, and so many other events influenced Ukrainian national identity.  

 

I believe that the recent events in Ukraine changed national identification in that county even more in the way that made people want to distinguish and stand for themselves. In various media we can encounter assertions of increasing self-identification of Ukrainians, greater pride in being a citizen of the Ukrainian state, stronger attachment to symbols of nationhood, enhanced solidarity with compatriots, increased readiness to defend Ukraine or work for Ukraine, and increased confidence in the people’s power to change the country for the better (Kulyk, 2016). These events are now a part of the history that shows us who are Ukrainians.  

 

History is significant when we talk about the nation. History is something that can be rewritten without putting too much effort. However, if someone does change it consciously or unconsciously people`s understanding of the nation can change. Let’s take the Soviet Union as an example. The head of this union tried to hide the countries` unique history, traditions, and everything that could provoke people to stand up and fight for their independence and nation (Brudny, 2011). Soviet rule attempted to make society believe that everything they had before was nonsense and it all was wrong. Of course, after years of repression and propaganda some of them gave up on the idea of having their own and unique nation and humbled with what the regime made up. But the Baltic States and Central Europe proved that forty years of communist dominance is too short period to alter the preexisting identity patterns. Clearly, Soviet rule and institutions had an impact on the Western Ukraine region, but the political and social legacy of pre-communist times, the hardships of Soviet rule, and the legacy of the years-long armed struggle of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) against the Soviets assisted in preserving the main features of the original Western Ukrainian identity, such as the desire for independence, the use of Ukrainian language, and strong anti-communist feelings (Brudny, & Finkel, 2011). It helped to save Ukrainian traditions, history, and language throughout the years and inspired people to fight back. History and everything countries deal with make people see who they are and where they belong. 

 

Another thing that took a part in the formation of Ukrainian identity is language. Historically Ukraine has two main languages - Ukrainian, which is also official language of the state, and Russian, which is mostly spoken in Central and Eastern parts of the country as they are closer or border with Russia. There were conflicts between Western Ukrainian, centered on Ukrainian language and culture and European in its self-perception and orientation, and the other Eastern Ukrainian, Russian speaking, and Russian (cultural and political) orientation. (Bureiko & Moga, 2019). Ukrainian language was barely spoken and known because of the decades-long Russification process in the former Soviet Union and the attendant use of Russian as the language of inter-ethnic integration (Rozenas, Schutte, & Zhukov, 2017).  As a result, the Russian language prevailed over Ukrainian, as it was considered to be more useful in terms of social mobility and loyalty to the regime (Bureiko & Moga, 2019).   However, time showed that one of the Ukrainian features is ability of people to choose. Regardless the language they speak, people still identify themselves as Ukrainians. Part of society that uses Russian language does not question if they are Russian or Ukrainian because they still feel strong sense of belonging with Ukraine (Brudny & Finkel, 2011). One of the Russian intentions was that Russian speaking part of Ukraine will stand up and order to be a part of Russia, however it turned out in the opposite way. With the start of the war in Ukraine people began to use Ukrainian language even more than they did before (Kulyk, 2016). People in Eastern Ukraine that used to speak Russian everyday now change that habit and actively use Ukrainian. However, there are people that still use Russian during the current war in Ukraine and they still do not feel excluded. They still are Ukrainians, and they still love and fight for their home (Bureiko & Moga, 2019).

Another important part of Ukrainian nation identity is territory. For a long time, Russia tries to take Ukrainian territory under control. It occupied Crimea and now it`s trying to occupy the rest of Ukrainian territory (Kulyk, 2016). There are a lot of reasons they try to use and yet it`s not very clear what their intentions are. That`s why topic of Ukrainian land is significant and sensitive at the same time. After Ukraine gained independence in 1991 and had control under its territory, a lot of non-Ukrainian people that moved or were moved there forcibly by Soviet government stayed in Ukraine (Brudny & Finkel, 2011). That contributed to the formation of the ingroups withing the country. As a result, Ukraine has a lot of people from the neighbor countries such as Russia, Belarus, Moldova and so on living there (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, n.d.). Considering the current situation in Ukraine, these groups of “others” is such a significant factor in forming of a nation. Currently a lot of people from the neighboring countries that are still living in Ukraine. By living there, they helped Ukrainian nation to distinguish and form its boundaries. 

 

We can consider national identity as a double-edged relationship. It needs people inside the group to feel like they are together and united. It involves sharing common traditions, culture, habits, and language. They need to know their history and how they ended up where they are. These elements tie people together and give them enough knowledge to continue their existence as a nation (Triandafyllidou,1998). However, in case of Ukraine, people need to see the `other` people to understand their uniqueness. It means that different groups should accept each other and co-exist in the country. They need to understand their cultural and language differences but accept the fact that they share territory, and they need to keep peace there. 

 

However, the significant other may also be a group that threatens to blur the distinctiveness of the ingroup (Triandafyllidou, 1998). There are some examples of these group in Ukraine. Russia populated Ukrainian with some Russian people on purpose. (Rozenas et al., 2017) So, they can promote Russian government and the idea of being a part of it. They also use these people for their news reports. These people act like they are happy to see Russian troops and say that they help people however at the same time groups of real Ukrainian are held out of the picture so they can`t show the reality (Tchoubar & Bamas, 2022).   In this case, the group of the `other` does not help the ingroup. In contrary, it is a causation of the nation`s genocide. 

 

 

 

References 

Bureiko, N., & Moga T.L. (2019). The Ukrainian-Russian Linguistic Dyad and its Impact on National Identity in Ukraine. Europe-Asia Studies, 71(1), 137-155. https://web-p-ebscohostcom.proxy.seattleu.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=0&sid=0c140780-dc1d-4e67-8b26f7867a243dd0%40redis. 

Brudny, Y. M., & Finkel, E. (2011). Why Ukraine Is Not Russia: Hegemonic National Identity and Democracy in Russia and Ukraine. East European Politics and Societies, 25(4), 813–833. https://journals-sagepub-com.proxy.seattleu.edu/doi/full/10.1177/0888325411401379.

Triandafyllidou, A. (1998). National identity and the “Other.” Ethnic and Racial Studies, 21(4), 593–

612. https://doi.org/10.1080/014198798329784.    

Applebaum, A. (2022, December 1). Holodomor. Encyclopedia Britannica.

https://www.britannica.com/event/Holodomor

Rozenas, A., Schutte, S., & Zhukov, Y. M. (2017). The Political Legacy of Violence: The Long-Term Impact

of Stalin’s Repression in Ukraine. The Journal of Politics, 79(4), 1147– 1161. https://doi.org/10.1086/692964. 

Ukraine: Treatment of ethnic Russians. (n.d.). United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Refworld. Retrieved February 16, 2023 from https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ab0b38.html#:~:text=There%20are%20between%2011%2

0and,8%20May%201992%2C%2014.

Tchoubar, P., & Bamas, A. (2022, March 10). Ukraine: How a fake Russian TV report covered up a protest in Kherson. The Observers – France 24. https://observers.france24.com/en/europe/20220310russia-ukraine-fake-tv-report-kherson-protest.