Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T04:35:45.990Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Mapping national identity narratives in Ukraine

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2018

Karina V. Korostelina
Karina V. Korostelina*
Affiliation:
Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University, Arlington, Virginia, United States
*
∗Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

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

Ukrainenational identityhistorylanguageconflict
Type
Articles
Information
Nationalities Papers , Volume 41 , Issue 2 , March 2013 , pp. 293 - 315
Copyright
Copyright © 2013 Association for the Study of Nationalities 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson, Benedict. 1991. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. Rev. ed. London: Verso.Google Scholar
Arel, Dominique. 1995. “Ukraine: A Temptation of a Nationalising State.” In Political Culture and Civil Society in Russia and the New States of Eurasia, edited by Tismaneanu, V., 157–188. London: M.E. Sharpe.Google Scholar
Arel, Dominique, and Ruble, Blair. 2006. Rebounding Identities: The Politics of Identity in Russia and Ukraine. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Aslund, Anders. 2009. How Ukraine Became a Market Economy and Democracy. Washington, DC: Peterson Institute for International Economics.Google Scholar
Billig, Michael. 1995. Banal Nationalism. London: Sage.Google Scholar
Brubaker, Rogers. 1996. Nationalism Reframed: Nationhood and the National Question in the New Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Gellner, Ernest André. 1994. “Nationalism and Modernization.” In Nationalism, edited by Hutchinson, J. and Smith, A., 55–63. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Hansen, Holley E., and Hesli, Vicki L. 2009. “National Identity: Civic, Ethnic, Hybrid and Atomised Individuals.” Europe–Asia Studies 61 (1): 1–28.Google Scholar
Hnatuk, Olya. 2004. Proshannya z imperieyu. Kiev: Kritika.Google Scholar
Kelman, Herbert C. 1997. “Nationalism, Patriotism, and National Identity: Social-Psychological Dimensions.” In Patriotism in the Lives of Individuals and Nations, edited by Bar-Tal, D. and Staub, E., 165–189. Chicago: Nelson-Hall.Google Scholar
Kelman, Herbert C. 2001. “The Role of National Identity in Conflict Resolution.” In Social Identity, Intergroup Conflict, and Conflict Reduction, edited by R. D. Ashmore, L. Jussim and Wilder, D., 187–212. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Korostelina, Karina V. 2008. “Concepts of National Identity and the Readiness for Conflict Behavior.” National Identities 2: 207–223.Google Scholar
Korostelina, Karina V. 2009. “War of Textbooks: History Education in Russia and Ukraine.” Communist and Post-Communist Studies 2: 129–137.Google Scholar
Korostelina, Karina V. 2011. “Shaping Unpredictable Past: National Identity and History Education in Ukraine.” National Identities 1: 1–16.Google Scholar
Kulyk, Volodymyr.“Language Policies and Language Attitudes in Post-Orange Ukraine.” In Language Policy and Language Situation in Ukraine: Analysis and Recommendations, edited by Besters-Dilger, J., 15–55. Frankfurt: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Kuzio, Taras. 2007. Theoretical and Comparative Perspectives on Nationalism: New Directions in Cross-Cultural and Post-Communist Studies. Hannover: Ibidem-Verlag.Google Scholar
Kuzio, Taras. 2010. “Nationalism, Identity and Civil Society in Ukraine: Understanding the Orange Revolution.” Communist and Post-Communist Studies 43: 285–296.Google Scholar
Malan, Lucio. 2011. Post-Orange Ukraine: Internal Dynamics and Foreign Policy Priorities. Draft Report 075 CDSDG HE. NATO Parliamentary Assembly. http://www.nato-pa.int/default.asp?SHORTCUT=2439.Google Scholar
Motyl, Alexander J. 1992. Thinking Theoretically about Soviet Nationalities. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Pifer, Steven. 2009. Averting Crisis in Ukraine. Washington, DC: Council on Foreign Relations Press.Google Scholar
Ryabchuk, Mykola. 2003. Dvi Ukraini:real'ni mezhi,virtual'ni viiny. Kiev: Krytyka.Google Scholar
Shulga, Nikolay. 2011. Dreif na obochinu. Kiev: Biznespolitgrap.Google Scholar
Shulman, Stephen. 2005. “National identity and public support for political and economic reform in Ukraine.” Slavic Review 64 (1): 59–87.Google Scholar
Smith, Anthony D. 1991. National Identity. Reno: University of Nevada Press.Google Scholar
Smith, Anthony D. 2009. Ethno-symbolism and Nationalism. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Stein, Janice Gross. 1998. “Image, Identity, and Conflict Resolution.” In Managing Global Chaos, edited by Crocker, C.A. and Hampson, F.O., 93–111. Washington, DC: USIP.Google Scholar
Stern, Paul. 1995. “Why Do People Sacrifice for their Nations?” Political Psychology 16 (2): 217–235.Google Scholar
Umland, Andreas. 2011. “Four Political Dimensions of Ukraine's Future Europeanization.” Harvard International Review. http://hir.harvard.edu/four-political-dimensions-of-ukraine-s-future-europeanization.Google Scholar
Wilson, Andrew. 2002. The Ukrainians: Unexpected Nation. 2nd ed. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Wilson, Andrew. 2006. Ukraine's Orange Revolution. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar