Mapping national identity narratives in Ukraine

Abstract

Since 1991, the absence of the concept of a Ukrainian nation and national identity has led to a controversial, often ambivalent process of identity formation. The aim of this paper is to analyze and map the widely shared concepts about national identity that exist in Ukrainian society after 20 years of independence. Analysis of 43 interviews with Ukrainian political and intellectual elites reveals five different shared narratives: (1) dual identity; (2) being pro-Soviet; (3) a fight for Ukrainian identity; (4) a recognition of Ukrainian identity; and (5) a multicultural-civic concept. Each narrative is characterized by three main features: a coherent structure with strong internal logic and justification of its legitimacy; connection to a specific conception of power and morality; and an opposition to other narratives. All these features lead to the perception of society as a zero-sum game where one narrative must prevail over all others. At the same time, all these features ensure that there can be neither an overwhelming victory of one narrative over others nor a satisfying compromise between them. The results shed light on the complex process of narrative construction of identity and power in newly independent states.

Keywords:

• Ukraine
• national identity
• history
• language
• conflict

Acknowledgements

This research is supported by the Ebert Foundation, Office for Ukraine & Belarus.

Notes

The choice of Kiev as a venue for interviews was based on the following reasons: (1) Kiev is the capital of the country, so the concentration of elites is the highest there; (2) Kiev's population is multicultural and represents the diverse ideologies and narratives of the Ukraine; (3) elites living in Kiev have more opportunities to interact with the representatives of other narratives and thus formulate their positions.

Kievan Rus' (also Kyivan Rus' or Rus) was the first eastern Slavic state (late ninth to mid-thirteenth century). It is considered the earliest predecessor of modern Ukraine and Russia.

Stepan Andriyovych Bandera (1909 –1959) was one of the leaders of the Ukrainian national movement in Western Ukraine (Galicia) who headed the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN). Bandera is a controversial figure in contemporary Ukraine given his cooperation with Nazi Germany in 1939–1941. On 22 January 2010, the outgoing president of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko, posthumously awarded Bandera the title of Hero of Ukraine. The award was declared illegal by a Ukrainian court in April 2010. In January 2011, under President Viktor Yanukovych, the award was officially annulled. See a review of this issue by Timothy Snyder, “A Fascist Hero in Democratic Kiev” (http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2010/feb/24/a-fascist-hero-in-democratic-kiev).

Surzhyk: a range of russified variations of the Ukrainian language used in eastern and southern regions of Ukraine.

On Victory Day, May 9, 2011, there were clashes in Lviv (Western Ukraine) between supporters of the Svoboda Party and people celebrating Victory Day. The former is the nationalist ultra-right party; the majority of the latter group, including World War II veterans, came from Eastern Ukraine carrying replicas of the Soviet red flag. Fourteen people were injured and nine were detained for disorderly conduct.

Ivan Stepanovych Mazepa (1639–1709), Cossack hetman of the Hetmanate in Left Bank Ukraine. In response to Peter the Great's harsh demands on Ukraine, which threatened Cossack autonomy, Mazepa sided with Charles of Sweden. The Russian Orthodox Church laid an anathema on his name in the beginning of the eighteenth century and has refused to renounce it to this day.

Bohdan Khmelnytsky (1595–1657), leader of the Zaporozhian Cossacks, who organized a rebellion against Polish rule in Ukraine that ultimately led to the transfer of the Ukrainian lands east of the Dnieper River from Polish to Russian control.

Magdeburg law is the legal code adopted in medieval times by the city of Magdeburg and copied by many municipalities in Germany and Eastern and Central Europe, including Ukraine and Belarus. The code was based on compilations of Germanic law (the Sachsenspiegel) and showed little influence of Roman law. It combined norms of customary law with various municipal regulations.

Rulers of the Russian empire who carried out a policy of modernization and expansion.

The autonomous hetman state, or Hetmanate, was limited territorially to the east, in Left Bank Ukraine (1649–1782). At the head of the state stood the hetman, elected theoretically by a general Cossack assembly but effectively by senior officers, who in turn were largely swayed by the tsar's preference.

Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko (1814–1861) is the foremost Ukrainian poet of the nineteenth century and a major figure of the Ukrainian national revival. Born a serf, Shevchenko was freed in 1838 while a student at the St. Petersburg Academy of Art. His poems expressed Ukrainian romanticism and gave a somber portrayal of Ukrainian history.