Linguistic russification in Russian Ukraine: languages, imperial models, and policies

Abstract

The paper deals with the vagaries of linguistic russification among the Ukrainians from the mid-seventeenth century to 1914. The authors explore the major stages in the implementation of the policies of russification in Russian Ukraine, starting with first bans on books printed in Church Slavonic of the Ukrainian recension via the decrees and edicts issued by Peter I together with the Holy Synod to the punitive measures taken by the tsarist regime against new literary Ukrainian in the second half of the nineteenth century. The authors distinguish three languages (Church Slavonic of the Ukrainian recension, Ruthenian, and new literary Ukrainian) which were consecutively exposed to various forms of hostile language management by the tsarist administration. Based on these three languages and the classification into different models of imperial policy, a new periodization of linguistic russification and denationalization is substantiated. The material analyzed with the help of this new periodization proves that Russia’s rulers had special reasons for treating Ukraine more severely than other non-Russian areas, resulting in a constant, consistent, and long-lasting policy of linguistic russification in Russian Ukraine.