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To Steal the Past: Russiaâs War on Ukraineâs Identity
When juxtaposed with the practice of aggressive action and the brutal reality of war, Russian ideas appear completely incomprehensible. For more than three hundred years, Russians have cultivated the myth of the community, brotherhood of blood, and the indissoluble bond of the brotherly East Slavic peoples, while only recently they have unleashed a bloody war against the Ukrainians, killing children and defenceless civilians, burning and destroying everything along the way, and threatening the âmother of all Ruthenian citiesâ â Kyiv.
The Russian invasion is difficult to explain using the concepts of realism or political pragmatism. They are also completely useless for understanding the mentality of Russians. To this day, the majority of Russians do not accept the existence of separate Ukrainian and Belarusian identities, considering Ukrainians and Belarusians as subgroups of the Russian nation, and the Belarusian and Ukrainian languages as dialects of Russian. They tacitly accept the Kremlin's arguments about the need to defend the Russian-speaking inhabitants of Ukrainian lands against the âfascist coup of the Banderitesâ and to bring about the âdenazificationâ of Ukraine.
The aim of the present work is to analyse the causes of this state of affairs from a linguocultural perspective.
The Russian invasion is difficult to explain using the concepts of realism or political pragmatism. They are also completely useless for understanding the mentality of Russians. To this day, the majority of Russians do not accept the existence of separate Ukrainian and Belarusian identities, considering Ukrainians and Belarusians as subgroups of the Russian nation, and the Belarusian and Ukrainian languages as dialects of Russian. They tacitly accept the Kremlin's arguments about the need to defend the Russian-speaking inhabitants of Ukrainian lands against the âfascist coup of the Banderitesâ and to bring about the âdenazificationâ of Ukraine.
The aim of the present work is to analyse the causes of this state of affairs from a linguocultural perspective.
Joanna Getka, Head of the Institute of Intercultural Studies of Central and Eastern Europe at the University of Warsaw (ISIEÅW UW), is a philologist, a specialist in Belarusian and Russian studies, and a cultural anthropologist. She is the author of monographs and articles on the literary culture of the Belarusian and Ukrainian cultural area, and on the formation of the modern cultural identity of Belarusians and Ukrainians.
Jolanta Darczewska (1950â2025), Ph.D., was a doctor of the humanities, political scientist, translator, and expert on security issues in the post-Soviet area. From 1992 to 2021, she was affiliated with the Centre for Eastern Studies in Warsaw, and was its director in the years 2007â2011. She was the author of numerous publications devoted to the internal security of states in the post-Soviet area, including works on security management and specialized state administration bodies and their role in the political system.
Jolanta Darczewska (1950â2025), Ph.D., was a doctor of the humanities, political scientist, translator, and expert on security issues in the post-Soviet area. From 1992 to 2021, she was affiliated with the Centre for Eastern Studies in Warsaw, and was its director in the years 2007â2011. She was the author of numerous publications devoted to the internal security of states in the post-Soviet area, including works on security management and specialized state administration bodies and their role in the political system.
Contents
List of Figures and Tables
Introduction to the English Language Version
1 Instead of an Introduction: Dreams of Might of the âRussian Worldâ and the Strength of Myths
2 Myths and Symbols as an Ideological Tool of Russian State Doctrine: Introductory Remarks
â2.1âAuthority as a Vehicle of Ideological Violence
â2.2âThe Historical-Cultural Standard as an Example of Russian Ideological Violence
â2.3âThe Historical Weapon â a Tool of âWars of Memoryâ
â2.4âBrother or Mortal Enemy? Deprecatory Ethnonymy and the Ethnostereotyping of Ukrainians
3 Russian Cultural Imperialism on the Grounds of Eclectic Identity
â3.1âThe Russian Imperial Tri-Colour â White-Gold-Black and White-Blue-Red vs. the Soviet Red
â3.2âTwo Heads, Three Crowns â the Functionally Resounding Attributes of Empire
â3.3âByzantine Symbolism in the Service of Authority in Russia
â3.4âThe Mechanics of Operation of Symbols
4 Linguocultural Myths as the Foundation of Russiaâs Imperial Identity
â4.1âLeitmotifs of Russiaâs Imperial Discourse: the âTriune Russian Nationâ and the âRussian Worldâ
â4.2âRussian Rusâ? Vague Terms Exploited by Propaganda
â4.3âRussian Speakers: âRusskiyeâ, âRossiyskiyeâ or Perhaps âSovietskiyeâ People?
â4.4ââBig Brotherâ: Russian Cultural Imperialism in Putinâs Discourse
â4.5âOld Russian: a Protoplast of the Ukrainian Language?
â4.6âThe Myth of the âSecond Beginningâ: the Peasant Lineage of Ukrainian Language and Culture
â4.7âThe Myth of âTwo Ukrainesâ
â4.8âIdentity Myths as a Challenge to the PolishâUkrainian Cultural Dialogue
â4.9âThe Myth of the Destructive Influence of Polish Culture
â4.10âUkrainianness as a Challenge for the Russian Identity Discourse
5 A Summary: the Russian War for Ukraineâs Identity
Bibliography
Index
List of Figures and Tables
Introduction to the English Language Version
1 Instead of an Introduction: Dreams of Might of the âRussian Worldâ and the Strength of Myths
2 Myths and Symbols as an Ideological Tool of Russian State Doctrine: Introductory Remarks
â2.1âAuthority as a Vehicle of Ideological Violence
â2.2âThe Historical-Cultural Standard as an Example of Russian Ideological Violence
â2.3âThe Historical Weapon â a Tool of âWars of Memoryâ
â2.4âBrother or Mortal Enemy? Deprecatory Ethnonymy and the Ethnostereotyping of Ukrainians
3 Russian Cultural Imperialism on the Grounds of Eclectic Identity
â3.1âThe Russian Imperial Tri-Colour â White-Gold-Black and White-Blue-Red vs. the Soviet Red
â3.2âTwo Heads, Three Crowns â the Functionally Resounding Attributes of Empire
â3.3âByzantine Symbolism in the Service of Authority in Russia
â3.4âThe Mechanics of Operation of Symbols
4 Linguocultural Myths as the Foundation of Russiaâs Imperial Identity
â4.1âLeitmotifs of Russiaâs Imperial Discourse: the âTriune Russian Nationâ and the âRussian Worldâ
â4.2âRussian Rusâ? Vague Terms Exploited by Propaganda
â4.3âRussian Speakers: âRusskiyeâ, âRossiyskiyeâ or Perhaps âSovietskiyeâ People?
â4.4ââBig Brotherâ: Russian Cultural Imperialism in Putinâs Discourse
â4.5âOld Russian: a Protoplast of the Ukrainian Language?
â4.6âThe Myth of the âSecond Beginningâ: the Peasant Lineage of Ukrainian Language and Culture
â4.7âThe Myth of âTwo Ukrainesâ
â4.8âIdentity Myths as a Challenge to the PolishâUkrainian Cultural Dialogue
â4.9âThe Myth of the Destructive Influence of Polish Culture
â4.10âUkrainianness as a Challenge for the Russian Identity Discourse
5 A Summary: the Russian War for Ukraineâs Identity
Bibliography
Index
This book is especially relevant to scholars, researchers, and students in linguistics, cultural studies, and Slavic studies, as well as academic libraries and practitioners exploring language, ideology, and identity in Central and Eastern Europe.