Corinne A. Seals - Choosing a Mother Tongue: The Politics of Language and Identity in Ukraine (Multilingual Matters Book 169)

Choosing a Mother Tongue

MULTILINGUAL MATTERS

Series Editors : John Edwards, St. Francis Xavier University, Canada and Dalhousie University, Canada and Leigh Oakes, Queen Mary, University of London, UK .

Multilingual Matters series publishes books on bilingualism, bilingual education, immersion education, second language learning, language policy, multiculturalism. The editor is particularly interested in macro level studies of language policies, language maintenance, language shift, language revival and language planning. Books in the series discuss the relationship between language in a broad sense and larger cultural issues, particularly identity related ones.

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MULTILINGUAL MATTERS: 169

Choosing a Mother Tongue

The Politics of Language and Identity in Ukraine

Corinne A. Seals

MULTILINGUAL MATTERS

Bristol Blue Ridge Summit

For the Hromada and in memory of Misha

DOI https://doi.org/10.21832/SEALS4993

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.

Names: Seals, Corinne, author.

Title: Choosing a Mother Tongue: The Politics of Language and Identity in Ukraine / Corinne Seals.

Description: Blue Ridge Summit: Multilingual Matters, 2019. | Series: Multilingual Matters: 169 | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: This book investigates narrative accounts of the current Ukrainian war, providing a detailed analysis of how national and linguistic identity are discursively renegotiated during a time of mass conflict. It examines connections between language, culture and politics after the Russian-Ukrainian war Provided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019022072 (print) | LCCN 2019981219 (ebook) | ISBN 9781788924993 (hardback) | ISBN 9781788925006 (pdf) | ISBN 9781788925020 (kindle edition) | ISBN 9781788925013 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Ukrainian languagePolitical aspects. | Language revivalUkraine. | Language maintenanceUkraine. | UkrainiansEthnic identity. | Ukraine Conflict, 2014Personal narratives.

Classification: LCC P119.32.U38 S43 2019 (print) | LCC P119.32.U38 (ebook) | DDC 306.44/09477dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019022072

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019981219

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue entry for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN-13: 978-1-78892-499-3 (hbk)

Multilingual Matters

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USA: NBN, Blue Ridge Summit, PA, USA.

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Blog: www.channelviewpublications.wordpress.com

Copyright 2020 Corinne A. Seals.

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Contents

I would first like to acknowledge the support of the wider Ukrainian community, both in Ukraine and in diaspora communities around the world. Through shared stories over varenyky making and pysanka painting, you have spoken life into this book. Thank you also to my family, spread near and far, who continued to push me forward when I became tired or disheartened at times when negative world events again loomed large. A huge thank you also to Multilingual Matters and Anna Roderick in particular for often refocusing me on the task at hand, though always doing so in a supportive way. Thank you as well to Victoria University of Wellington's Research Committee for supporting the many hundreds of hours of work that went into narrative collection, analysis, transcription and book creation. Finally, thank you to my amazing team of research assistants, including Natalia Beliaeva, Keely Kidner, Kaitlyn Smith, Evan Hazenberg and Sydney Kingstone, all of who brought fascinating insights and admirable dedication to every part of this research..

Underlying all of the social and linguistic theories of identity and language is a very real understanding that we study these connections because of their importance to people everywhere. This reminder was brought to the cognitive surface in the most beautiful way when I sat down in April 2015 to talk with Ilona, a Ukrainian woman in her 30s living in the United States. The primary focus of our conversation was about her thoughts on language, education and politics in Ukraine and abroad. Towards the end of the interview, I asked Ilona if she felt that the Ukrainian language was related to her personal identity. She responded:

When I practice a conversation with my daughter in the future, I do it in Ukrainian, and its just- when I think of myself in the future or just in general, the self-image of me in Ukrainian, its different than if I were to think of it in any other language. It just feels like home, feels natural as opposed to either Russian or English Its home. The language, Ukrainian language, is home. Its childhood. Its the sun The person that I want to be, the person that does everything right and does everything the way I want to be, is the ideal person I strive to be, she speaks Ukrainian.

In this, Ilona was able to articulate what many people experience internally without necessarily having the opportunity or ability to express discursively: the connection between language and identity. In particular, Ilonas description captures multiple areas of language and identity research that will be explored in this book, including imagined identities , investment, positioning and dialogism , among others.

Ilonas interview was one of 38 interviews that I conducted with Ukrainians between 2014 and 2016. All interviews were conducted in the language(s) that the participants chose to use during the interviews (most participants used English the majority of the time). All excerpts are accurately transcribed in both language choice and grammatical form. As will be discussed later in , the participants were all in their 20s or 30s. They all grew up in Ukraine, but from there they diverge. Some of the participants now live in the United States, some in Canada, some in New Zealand and some still live in Ukraine. They have a wide range of linguistic, socioeconomic, religious and educational backgrounds. They have invested in many different life decisions, and their current linguistic practices reflect their past, present and anticipated futures. One thing that they all share, however, is experience and ongoing familiarity with the discourses connecting language, culture and politics in Ukraine.

The perceived connection between language, culture and politics is, of course, not unique to Ukraine. However, what is unique in the current investigation into this is that these 38 interviews were conducted during the Ukrainian War between Ukraine and Russia, occurring on the Eastern Ukrainian border and on the Crimean Peninsula. As a result, historically embedded Discourses.