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Back to Issue: No.2, 2023

The language issue of Ukraine during the russian-Ukrainian war. The impact of centuries of repression of the Ukrainian language on modern society

Iryna Dzyublenko

Abstract

The study of the language issue in Ukraine is relevant considering the importance of linguistic identification: since most Ukrainians have been Russified, it is necessary to pursue a clear and strategic language policy that could ensure the gradual but steady development of all things Ukrainian in the future. The purpose of this research was to explore the current state of linguistic consciousness in Ukrainian society, and the specifics of the establishment and development of the Ukrainian language during the long linguistic crimes and after the outbreak of the russian-Ukrainian war. The following methods were used to achieve the set purposes: analytical and synthetic, comparative and contrastive, historical, diachronic and synchronous. A panoramic analysis of the prohibitions and restrictions on the functioning of the Ukrainian language over the past four centuries was conducted, in particular in the fields of education, book publishing, office work, the church, etc. The study examined the historical stages of the development and formation of the identity of the Ukrainian language and provided statistics on the language issue a few years after independence, after the russian aggression in eastern Ukraine, and after russia's full-scale invasion. It developed an understanding of the causes and consequences of linguistic crimes and assessed the stages of Russification and the impact of the russian-speaking space in different regions of Ukraine. Attention was focused on the mechanisms of linguistic decolonisation on the example of different national languages and countries, forms of linguistic planning and national policies of states affected by language bans, and the revival of identification. The materials presented in this work can be used for further scientific research in the field of linguistics, sociology, historiography, and cultural studies, in particular, in the study of colonisation and decolonisation processes in various national languages of the world

Keywords

expansion; destruction; decolonisation; public space; planning

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Suggested citation

Dzyublenko, I. (2023). The language issue of Ukraine during the russian-Ukrainian war. The impact of centuries of repression of the Ukrainian language on modern society. Foreign Affairs, 33(2), 21-30. https://doi.org/10.46493/2663-2675.33(2).2023.21-30
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