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15-20 min Discussion - General Guidelines

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15-20 min Discussion - General Guidelines

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1. Pick a group concept to discuss in the first reading circle and then use Steps 2 and 3 to run your circle # 1.

2. Warm up with the staters questions on the assigned concepts:

What are your reactions to the concept?

What do you already know about the concept?

What does the text imply about this concept?

2. Discuss the concepts with some of the following questions:

What would be an example of this concept in the assigned text?

What do you think caused this phenomenon to happen (refer back to the text)?

How would other ethnic groups of residents and demographics respond and why?

What is the counterargument from the Russian Mir/ Soviet/Empire perspective?

3. Then, post your group response towards Point 2 (what questions you discussed & bring text evidence as needed). Add your group names

4. Move to another reading circle on another concept following the same guidelines.

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by Kristina

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"exiled to Siberia or Kazakhstan" (Flaherty)

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"exiled to Siberia or Kazakhstan" (Flaherty)

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Olisya

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"First Russians came. Then Germans came." (Flaherty)

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"First Russians came. Then Germans came." (Flaherty)

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by Ana S.

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"There were no newspapers in the Tatar language, the songs were forbidden" (Flaherty)

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"There were no newspapers in the Tatar language, the songs were forbidden" (Flaherty)

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by Alsu

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Sasha

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Kristina (p. 95)

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Heorhii Narbut - the image in Dominique Arel's work

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The Imaginative World of Heorhii Narbut - UIMA

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Heorhii Narbut was born in 1886 in Narbutivka near Hlukhiv, Ukraine. As a talented artist, he explored his artistic journey in St. Petersburg and Munich, returning to Kyiv in 1918, with the proclamation of the independent Ukrainian National Republic.

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"Russification" of Ukrainian territories - Arel

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"Russification" of Ukrainian territories - Arel

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"Novorosiia" in the eastern Ukrainian oblasts - Arel

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"Novorosiia" in the eastern Ukrainian oblasts - Arel

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Pr. Putin's "Victory Speech" after annexation 

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Pr. Putin's "Victory Speech" after annexation 

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"political legitimacy"  (Ukraine; Canada)

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"political legitimacy"  (Ukraine; Canada)

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"language of origin" and asymmetry in the social status of languages - Arel

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"language of origin" and asymmetry in the social status of languages - Arel

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surge of students in schools with the Ukrainian primary language of instruction  Arel

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surge of students in schools with the Ukrainian primary language of instruction  Arel

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Why do some Ukrainians want to be part of Russia? BBC News

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Ukraine as an official language - Khadija Mujahid

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Ukraine as an official language - Khadija Mujahid

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I only knew what I had learned from the earlier readings in this class about the Russian and Ukrainian languages, so I had not heard much about the debate of state and regional languages. I understand that wanting to make Ukraine the official language is desirable especially to exert the agency of Ukraine in a time that their statehood is being called into question, and also just to have an established official language for school, but alternatively, it could be unfair to impose the language. Additionally, Russian and Ukrainian are partly mutually intelligible, so it may be unnecessary to impose it. If Russian is someone's native tongue, they should be able to speak it, but it doesn't seem necessary to make it a regional language. I think that for people from Donetsk this could be a relevant issue because Russian is prevalent there.

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Question: What would be an example of this concept in the assigned text?

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"The punishment for this Ukrainian defiance was the Holodomor. Afterwards, the public use of Ukrainian in the Soviet Union followed state-imposed structures and demands questioning the supremacy of
Russian as the language of state organs were deemed “nationalist” and criminal." (Arel)

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"However, the one area where there has been significant movement in the public use of Ukrainian has been the school system. In the late 1980s, when the language question became politically salient as a result of glasnost, it was revealed that the proportion of pupils attending Ukrainian-language elementary and high schools had reached its lowest point since the creation of the Soviet Union—close to 50 percent." (Arel)

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We can see how Russia is trying to suppress the Ukrainian language and instead pushing the Russian language on them and not letting them speak in Ukrainian. We know there has always been a history of oppression against the Ukrainians by the Russians. So this russification isn't really a new concept. Even since medieval times Russia has been an expansionist state and has taken over Ukrainian land several times trying to use Russification over the land.

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We learned that Russification doesn't just involve overtaking and invasion of land, but also goes into a much deeper level psychologically. The Ukrainian language is associated with the countryside while Russian is associated with urbanism, commerce, and the government. This makes you feel that you will not reach any advancement if you stick to Ukrainian culture and instead need to adapt to Russian values for success.

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We discussed how we both were upset with this concept and everything that goes on in Russia. People's perceptions in Russia specifically and how they are hindered. The text we have read discusses a lot of discourse regarding history and the originality of Ukrainian culture when it comes to Russian history. We found a few examples of this concept in the text, like the art pieces in Narbut article, the Kyivan Rus among many other things. We also discussed the resistance against language laws and how fascinating it is that people fail to acknowledge territory and its relationship to language and how one does not overrule the other.

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What we know on the 2012 language law - Natalija

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What we know on the 2012 language law - Natalija

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What we already knew about the 2012 language law was that the law sought to designate Ukrainian as the exclusive official language of the state, primarily in governmental agencies, public services, and educational institutions. It required the use of Ukrainian in all official correspondence, documents, and public events at the national level. Nonetheless, it permitted the use of regional languages in certain contexts, particularly in regions with substantial minority populations.

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We discussed the concept of Crimean Oppression, particularly relating to the Flaherty quote, "There were no newspapers in the Tatar language, the songs were forbidden" and the video Crimean Tatars. It's no surprise that Russia is suppressing the culture and by no means okay. This is just another example of how Russia has suppressed different regions of Ukraine. "Though many of their stories, women spoke about having to be careful not to show any signs of nationalism as citizens of the USSR." In this other quote in the Flaherty article, history is repeating itself. While Russia wants to distance itself from the acts of the Soviet Union, they are doing the same thing the Soviet Union did during WWII to Crimea. We believe that these acts are just another power play by Russia, we have seen this happen to other regions of Ukraine. It's clear it's an attempt by Russia to get closer to Ukraine and also weaken their economic stability by controlling their resources. Other ethnic groups in Ukraine could relate to the experiences of those in Crimea due to how widespread Russian influence and control has been on Ukraine. Russians are responding by stating that all of these acts of in defense of Russian speakers, in the name of saving their language.

- Safa and Maggie

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The idea that a language can be asymmetric is an interesting concept since language does influence how individuals interact with each other and how they assimilate into different cultures. In addition, I believe language can benefit one's socioeconomic status and how they are viewed in the company/organization they are in. Some languages are held in a higher regard, as opposed to other languages due to their social benefit to economics and society as a whole. Regarding Russia and Ukraine, Russia is seen as the regional language since it has been spoken longer and is solidified in society.

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Three pillars of indigenization

the use of national languages in government

the mobility of national minority members in state and party organs

delineation of internal administrative borders according to a language-based nationality criteria

Korenizatsiia was an early policy of the soviet union for the integration of non-Russian nationalities into the governments of their specific Soviet Republics. The main idea was to grow communist cadres for every nationality. The aim was to eliminate Russian domination and culture in Soviet republics where ethnic Russians did not constitute a majority. Trying to grow communist cadres for every nationality. Movement away from Russification. This policy ended shortly after.

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According to the Arel's article, Russification of the Ukrainian language has no significant data in the last 20 years. However, the school system is a different story. In the 1980s, schools in small villages to the capital city of Kyiv were all speaking Russian. In 1989, Ukrainian became the sole language of the state. Then in 2012, Russia created the "language law" that established Russian as the "regional language". 2013 data shows how school systems were affected. According to the text, "Nearly a quarter-century later, in 2013, the proportion of pupils enrolled in Ukrainian-language schools surged to 82 percent" (Arel). This kind of data shows that when Russia threatens Ukraine with this "Russification", Ukraine defends their identity.

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-What is the counter argument from the russian

The video showed many different places in Ukraine were Russians are occupied like a camp that has barbed wire and huge walls built up around it, the video showed a russain family in their house in Ukraine having dinner. Even though those russains where in such diracsticly different enviroments many of their belifes were the same. The Russians in the Camp said they will never watch Ukraine News broadcasts and only watch russain broadcasts and said that Europe was a bad place to live in because of fascism and Homosexual Marrage, those people wanted russia to come to where they were in Ukraine to 'Support' them in their camp. The family watched both Ukraine and Russain news and used a video of Ukraine high school students protesting the war as a reason for russia to bring in military force.

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Why do some Ukrainians want to be part of Russia? BBC News

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It is very interesting to see how language affects individuals so much in Ukraine. Especially living in the United States, there are many people who speak different languages and it is considered normal. Language is a big part of identity, and designating only one language seems to reduce people’s identity. We think what causes this phenomenon is the constant battle between Ukrainians and Russians, that leads the hatred of the Russian language and pushes Ukrainians to only identify with the Ukrainian language.

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Russia is aiming to take land from eastern Ukraine, in specific the Donbas region. This would allow them a major advantage as this area is heavily industrialized, and also has a significant economic impact that would help their military operations.

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We were interested in the eggs and the history and importance behind not just the art of making, but the designs and patterns put on the egg. Something that also stood out was the colors all meaning different things to the people making them. The wax and tool used to paint the eggs were very interesting and we would be interested in figuring out how exactly they work. Another super cool thing we found was the museum that looks just like one of the eggs. This shows us how important and praised the history of this art is to Ukraine and its people.

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" In the 1920s, Soviet officials were torn between the Leninist dictum that Ukrainian peasants will identify with the Soviet state if the state speaks to them in Ukrainian and the suspicion that the promotion of Ukrainian by intellectuals could lead to “separatism.” "

In the 1920s, the Soviet Union's policy towards the Ukrainian language reflected a broader tension in its approach to national identities. Lenin advocated promoting local languages like Ukrainian to build loyalty among diverse populations. However, Soviet officials feared that empowering these identities could fuel nationalist sentiments and potential separatism. This led to a dual policy of supporting and suppressing local cultures. Over time, especially under Stalin, the emphasis shifted towards central control and Russification, as the promotion of local identities was increasingly seen as a threat to Soviet unity.

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The "political legitimacy" is a topic of discussion in NATO's considerations of incorporating Ukraine because of the pre-existing corruption in Ukraine. The corruption is the oligarch control on the economy, and sure, because of the war their power has been decreasing, but fears of a new oligarchical control in Ukraine emerging is in question. We interpreted that the corruption, whether or not it is dissipating is in question because the thought of post-war activity regarding the corruption could arise again in a different form, therefore hurting their image.

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In our reading circle, we discussed the 2012 Language Law, pre-legalization, and post-repeal in 2014. "The 2012 law shattered the political equilibrium by removing state incentives to learn and use Ukrainian." One of the negative outcomes of the law was that regions where Russian is mostly used now did not have any motivation to learn Ukrainian therefore creating a deeper language divide. Before the law, 1989 law required citizens to learn Ukrainian therefore creating a sense of unity under one language. Some many say that the 2012 law made sure Russian-speaking Ukrainians were still included and felt involved in their nation, however not having an established national language has further divided Ukraine since the repeal of the 2012 law.

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Students in schools with the Ukrainian primary language of instruction - Nashley & Jack 

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Students in schools with the Ukrainian primary language of instruction - Nashley & Jack 

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We didn't know much about the language instruction in Ukraine but assumed it was Ukrainian because that's just how language learning usually works. You learn the language that is spoken in your country but with that logic, Ukraine is different and complex. There are 2 languages primarily spoke there, and as Arel pointed out "Russian-speaking children (language of preference) who go through eleven years of Ukrainian-language education still speak Russian among themselves, because Russian remains the language used outside of the classroom." Which means, there are more Ukrainian primary schools that choose to make Ukrainian the primary language but that doesn't impede the children that are already speaking Russian to continue doing so outside of the classroom. However, more and more parents are opt-ing to take their kinds to these schools that teach and speak Ukrainian and that is a sigh that Ukrainian as a language is increasing in social status.

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The oppression of the Crimean Tatars is a direct result of Russia seeing their existence as an obstacle. They have faced ethnic cleansing, have been forced to relocate for generations. As Lia Motrechko mentions, her grandmother was displaced to Uzbekistan and Lia, herself, is living in Spain. From her own experience of displacement and Russia denying her autonomy, Lia is sympathetic to the Ukrainian struggle. However, Tatars face drastic consequences for resisting Russia through demonstrations, often being arrested and tortured. Tatars are unable to discuss the situation for fear that Russia is listening to them; when they were interviewed, they were even wearing of revealing their names.