Decapitalizing Russian: The Shifting Status of Russophone Literature in Ukraine

• In Event: Liberating the Russian Language: Russophone Literature in the New Diaspora(s)

Abstract

The painful dilemma about the (small r) russian language and Russophonia in Ukraine at this moment suggests a difficult future for the Russian language in Ukrainian culture. This statement of the obvious masks a complex reality in which many Ukrainians still identify Russian as their primary language but associate it with trauma and existential threat. Before February 24, 2022, the Russophone literary community in Ukraine was creatively and collegially engaged with its Ukrainophone counterpart, and many Russophone writers took the stance of producing and publishing work in Ukrainian instead of or alongside Russian – with or without a translator. The situation now is much worse, as Russophone writers battle internally with their native language and its effect on their readers. Outside of Ukraine, the continued tendency in western academia to combine Russian and Ukrainian speakers and topics (such as this panel!) complicates things further by evoking the accusation of insensitivity and tone-deafness, at best, or, at worst, a continuation of the colonial/imperial practices. This paper will examine the changing role of Ukrainian writers in the widening concept of Russophonia, with reference to Ukrainian writers Alexei Nikitin and Olena Stiazhkina.

Author

• Catherine B. O'Neil, US Naval Academy