COMMENTARY: The Ukrainian language in Ukraine (12/17/06)

COMMENTARY

The Ukrainian language in Ukraine

by Oleh Wolowyna

The status of the Ukrainian language in Ukraine has received a great deal of attention lately. Many articles and op-ed pieces have been written in Ukraine, as well as in Russia and other countries. Official declarations by Ukrainian and Russian spokespersons have been amply publicized, and all kinds of rationalizations have been proposed to justify the different positions on the subject.

This polemic has become entangled in all kinds of rationalizations, sidetracked by arguments that are tangential at best, and it seems that people have lost sight of some basic principles regarding this issue. It's time to go back to basics and get rid of all the extraneous arguments that confuse the issue.

Let us start with some principles that should be self-evident:

Ukraine is an independent country and, like any independent country, should have an official language (either de jure or de facto).
The Ukrainian language is an integral part of Ukrainian culture and an essential component of Ukraine as an independent country.
Without Ukrainian as its official language there is no justification for Ukraine to exist as an independent country.
The Ukrainian government and the people of Ukraine need to decide if they want an independent Ukraine or not, and the status of the Ukrainian language follows logically from the above principles.

Given the historical context of Ukraine, examples of countries with more than one official language (Canada, for example), or countries with official languages that are not an integral part of their culture (Ireland or Switzerland, for example) are totally irrelevant.

It would be unrealistic, of course, to ignore the historical reality of the consequences of centuries of Russification policy in Ukraine. One also needs to consider the fact that the current Russian government and the majority of Russians find independent Ukraine unacceptable and are doing everything in their power to bring Ukraine back as part of the Russian Empire. The elimination of the Ukrainian language is part of this policy.

There is a very simple answer to the continuous provocations by the Russian government regarding the "persecution" of the Russian minority and its language in Ukraine: the Ukrainian government will guarantee the Russian minority in Ukraine the same rights as the Russian government guarantees the Ukrainian minority in Russia.

Given these historical realities, it is important to distinguish between goals and tactics. The ultimate, uncompromising goal is that Ukrainian is the language of Ukraine and that all official and most public discourse in the country should be in Ukrainian. One should make allowances for persons who do not speak Ukrainian to be able to communicate in their mother tongue, but this should be a matter of temporary convenience, not a permanent right.

A good example of this tactic is how different states and municipalities in the United States deal with Hispanic immigrants. For practical reasons, the immigrants are given the opportunity to conduct official business in Spanish, but the official policy is that their children will become Americans and English speakers, with the personal option of maintaining their Hispanic culture, including the Spanish language - in other words, Americans first and Hispanics second. And this applies to all ethnic groups in the U.S.A.

People who insist that Russian should be an official language in Ukraine can be classified into three groups: a) Russian nationalists who overtly or covertly are trying to sabotage Ukraine as an independent country and marginalize its culture; b) Russified Ukrainians who feel more comfortable speaking Russian and think that Ukraine should be subservient to Russia; c) people who think that Russian is a superior language than Ukrainian, admire Russian culture and consider Ukrainian culture inferior, and bend backwards not to offend the "big brother."

The issue boils down to self-respect as a nation and a people, and to our historical legacy of the Ukrainian inferiority complex. By not understanding the fact that the Ukrainian language is an integral part of our culture and that it is inseparable from Ukraine as an independent nation, those who promote the Russian language over Ukrainian insult the Ukrainian people's dignity as persons and as citizens of Ukraine. If this is not clearly understood and acted upon, Ukraine might as well close shop and beg "big brother" to accept Ukrainians again as their "little brothers."

What should the diaspora's policy be in this matter? First, it is about time that we stop being apologetic and defensive about this issue. Our position should be firm and unequivocal: Ukraine will not be a truly independent nation without Ukrainian as its only official language. The final decision on this belongs to the Ukrainian people and the governments they elect, of course. However, the diaspora has the right and duty not only to make its position clear to the Ukrainian government and people, but also take concrete measures consistent with this position.

Some illustrative examples:

Before donating money, equipment or time to any Ukrainian institution, find out about their policies regarding the Ukrainian language. We should provide assistance only to those institutions that have a clear policy of use and/or support of the Ukrainian language. For example, provide assistance to schools in eastern Ukraine that teach exclusively in Ukrainian and need help with textbooks, teaching materials, training of teachers, etc.
When dealing with government officials in Ukraine who speak in Russian, tell them that you do not understand Russian (which happens to be a fact for those of us who were not exposed to the Russian language). If they insist on speaking Russian, ask for a Ukrainian-speaking official.
The airline Aerosvit exploits the name "Ukraine" for marketing purposes. However, when I flew on Aerosvit last May to Kyiv and asked for Ukrainian newspapers they did not have any; all the newspapers were in Russian. Make it clear to them that if they do not carry Ukrainian newspapers, we will not use the airline and will publicize this fact.

We should make it clear that, in our opinion, Ukraine without the Ukrainian language is a contradiction of terms, and that an independent Ukraine where a large proportion of its population speaks Russian only, including high-level government officials, is totally unacceptable. We understand that in some cases it may take some time to reach the final objective, but the Ukrainian government should have an explicit and clear policy with concrete implementation steps for reaching the final objective of becoming a normal country with pride in its culture and language.

While continuing our efforts to influence the Ukrainian government in this respect, we should make our position clear at all levels of Ukrainian society - not just with words, but with deeds.

Oleh Wolowyna, Ph.D., is a demographer and president of Informed Decisions Inc. based in Chapel Hill, N.C.

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