Ukrainian Politicians Research Articles

Miejsce Stepana Bandery w ukraińskiej polityce pamięci w latach 2014-2019

The following paper covers the topic of Stepan Bandera’s place in the Ukrainian politics of memory in 2014-2019. Inspired by the narrowest of the definitions of the politics of memory proposed by Lech Nijakowski, I conducted a analysis of Ukrainian central and local authorities’ actions relating to the figure of Stepan Bandera. Among the sources that were used there are documents of various Ukrainian authorities, including the Verkhovna Rada, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance (UINR) and local governments. I also analysed the public statements of Ukrainian politicians who held the positions of President, Prime Minister, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada or ministers regarding how they referred to the figure of Bandera. I have analogously analysed the statements made by Volodymyr Viatrovych, President of the UINR. The materials from the Ukrainian local media helped to trace the actions taken towards the figure of Bandera at the local government level. The qualitative analysis showed that Bandera played a noticeable but not at all key role in the Ukrainian politics of memory in the period under study. The leader of nationalism was described in the category of ethnocentrism, but at the same time the number of actions relating to his figure taken by the authorities was relatively small. The main qualitative change is the fact that the Bandera’s politics of memory went beyond Galicia and Volhynia. In the period under study, several dozen Bandera streets appeared in Central Ukraine, Bukovina and Transcarpathia, and 2019 was proclaimed the “Year of Bandera” in the Zhytomyr Region.

POLITICAL ACTORS IN UKRAINIAN DIGITAL DISCOURSE: WAYS OF REPRESENTING

Problem setting. In Ukrainian media sphere, the attention towards a political actor may be constructed specially, with the help of the so called «jeansa» (covered political advertisement) dissemination. To understand processes within a political discourse of the country, the mechanism of the texts identification should be designed.Recent research and publications analysis. Several professional NGOs has been monitoring Ukrainian mass media to detect «jeansa» (IDPO (2019), IMI (2019). However, in the times of journalism crisis the problem of media independence and transparency remains a crucial one. Thus, commercial model of journalism should be changed and the reality of «hybrid media system» (Chadwick) should be taken into account.Paper objective is to test a formal method of the «jeansa» materials detection and to define the ways ofpolitical actors representing. Period of research is January-February 2019 (the beginning og the presidential pre-election campaign). Materials of the popular newspaper Segodnya and independent media «Ukrajins’ka Pravda» were compared. For the defining of the non-transparence placement materials a computer program (Python language) was designed.Paper main body. According to the data received, the two ways of political actors representing in Ukrainian digital discourse are defined: with specially created, made attention towards an actor («jeansa») and with an ordinary one. Cases of Ukrainian politicians (presidential candidates, officials) are taken into account.Conclusions of the research. For the first way constant, regular mentions ofa political actor (one-two per day) are typical. In that case the existence of non-transparence placement materials of a news site may be stated. However, for the complete picture it is recommended to consider other data: number of mentions and polls results comparison, coverage of a political actor activity in different mass media analysis. For the second way several options were found. The first one - without breaking news occasions (court hearings, resonant statements, scandals, insults etc); in that case small number of mentions per day (one-two) is also discovered, however, there are significant silent periods, when there are no mentions at all. However, there is a concentrated placement of the mentions, near the certain news occasion. The second one with single irregular mentions there are splashes of attention and more concentrated placement of mentions (near the occasion as well). However, the analysis has some limitations, for instance, it is problematic to define the specially created attention towards the high-ranked officials (presidents).

Ukraine. The first year of President Zelensky

The article is an attempt to analyze some results of the first year of President V. Zelensky’s tenure. The time elapsed since his election is not long enough to fully answer the question whether the new leadership has met the electorate expectations. The COVID-19 pandemic, the economic crisis, and political uncertainty in Europe and beyond are all contributing factors. It is already possible to compare what has been made with what has been promised and try to give an idea of what will be the future trajectory of almost thirty years of the «Ukrainian transit». This is determined by the internal logic of Ukraine’s evolution, internal situation, and strong external influences. All factors mentioned have a roughly equal impact. The first one pushes forward, the second and the third – prevent it. The brief analysis shows that the public expectations on the eve of the elections ‒ both presidential and parliamentary ‒ consisted of a comprehensive and in-depth overhaul of the entire system of public administration. The article reveals that the policy goals of the new State administration of Ukraine, proclaimed by V. Zelensky, were objective and justified. However, the probability of their achievement is very low provided that the regime of the Third Ukrainian Republic is maintained. It is outdated and it should be replaced. The author concludes that this is the main challenge Ukraine is facing and a new generation of Ukrainian politicians will have to find an adequate response.

VERBAL AND PARAVERBAL CRITICISM: A DISCURSIVE STUDY OF GERMAN AND UKRAINIAN ELECTORAL SPEECHES

AbstractThe article examines the role of verbal and paraverbal means in conveying critical evaluation, based upon electoralspeeches of German and Ukrainian politicians. The paper contains an overview of the types, forms and functionsof criticism in political discourse. The study highlights the linguistic and, in a narrower context, discursive contrastsdetectable in German and Ukrainian political criticism. Furthermore, the kinetic means of highlighting criticalstatements in the electoral debates under analysis are specified.RésuméThe article represents a discursive study of verbal and paraverbal means of conveying criticalassessment based on electoral speeches of German and Ukrainian politicians. The paper containsan overview of the types, forms and functions of criticism in political discourse. The study highlightsthe linguistic and, in a narrower context, discursive contrasts detectable in German and Ukrainianpolitical criticism. Furthermore, the kinetic means of highlighting critical statements in the electoraldebates under analysis are specified. The study corpus includes overall 10 hours of the videofeaturing electoral speeches in German (A. Merkel and M. Schulz) and Ukrainian (V. Zelenskyi andP. Poroshenko). Through the identification experiment, 500 critical discourse fragments were singledout in German and Ukrainian, containing 340 relevant co-speech gestures supporting critical utterancesin the two languages; they were analyzed in terms of the types of co-speech gesture, hand shape, palmorientation, movement direction, and movement trajectory. The study reveals that the Ukrainianpoliticians are more emotional in electoral debates and support their critical assessments with impulsiveco-speech gestures using one or both hands, nods, body movements and pointing the index fingerdirectly at their opponent. At the same time, the German politicians display a calmer paraverbalbehaviour, attaching more importance to the verbal component of the critical assessment. Suchdifferences can be explained by the cultural traditions of political criticism in Germany and Ukraine:they depend on the mental and cultural characteristics of politicians, their motivational guidelinesfor critical rhetoric as well as on the personal rhetorical competence of the speaker, the degreeof eloquence of his/her speech, etc.

ПОНЯТТЯ «ПАТРІОТИЗМ» У РОЗУМІННІ РОСІЙСЬКОМОВНОЇ МОЛОДІ ЗІ СХОДУ УКРАЇНИ ТА КРИМУ

Background. The Ukrainian politicians and mass media actively discuss the thesis that you can love your country but not speak Ukrainian. In this context, the question of the content of the concept «patriotism» from the point of view of Russian-speaking youth becomes relevant.Purpose. The purpose of this article is to find out whether young migrants from the Donbass and Crimea consider themselves patriots, what affects their self-identification, how they understand the term "patriotism" and whether, in their view, Ukrainian is a component of this concept.Methods. The language biography method was used to collect the material. 20 interviews of young (17-28 years old) migrants from Donbass and Crimea who currently reside in Kyiv were analyzed. The informants answered the question «Do you consider yourself a patriot?»Results. It has been found that Russian-speaking youth often do not call themselves patriots because they do not speak Ukrainian and do not support nationalists. In addition, it is important for young people to express their love for the Motherland through real actions. Driven largely by pragmatic motives migrants often put in the concept «patriotism» symbolic content. The informants' answers do not contain some of the patriot features represented in the dictionary definitions: responsibility for the Motherland's fate, readiness to sacrifice something for the sake of their nation.Some of the informants hesitate to answer because they cannot identify themselves with only one state. The results of the study reveal the problem of Russian-speaking youth national identity. Many of the respondents have not a national but global or regional identity. At the same time, most connect their future with Ukraine.Discussion. According to young Russian-speaking migrants’ opinion, the main components of the concept of «patriotism» are 1) communication in Ukrainian; 2) support for nationalist ideas; 3) the desire to live in Ukraine, despite the difficult socio-economic situation in the country; 4) love for the Ukrainian language, culture, traditions. The study identifies the need for targeted mass surveys in environment of Russian-speaking youth from different regions of Ukraine.Keywords: patriotism, migrants, Ukrainian language, nationalism, identity.

Ukrainian-Russian Relationship in 1917-1918: History Lessons

The author has carried out a comparative analysis of Ukrainian-Russian relationship between the days of the Ukrainian Central Rada and the modern period. The character and ideological basis of stable tendencies in Russia’s policy towards Ukraine have been demonstrated. The similarity in the approaches of the Russian central government to the so-called “solution of the Ukrainian issue” has been determined; the essence of Russian chauvinism in understanding the right of nations to self-determination has been demonstrated. The causes and consequences of the war between Soviet Russia and the Ukrainian People’s Republic have been analyzed. The author has determined the main significant, fateful mistakes of the leaders of the Central Rada within relations with the People’s Commissar of Russia, which led to the loss of authority and support of the Ukrainian people for national power and, as a consequence, the collapse of the Ukrainian People’s Republic. The nature and essence of the ideology of the so-called “Russian world” have been revealed. It has been concluded that the history of Ukrainian statehood in 1917-1918 is instructive in many aspects, since it shows that one of the main reasons for the defeat of the Ukrainian Central Rada, which ultimately failed to defend the Ukrainian People’s Republic, was the lack of necessary consolidation of national political forces in solving urgent state affairs (creation and development of own army, timely solution of social, economic problems, efficiency of work of legislative and executive agencies, etc.). It has been noted that the challenges currently facing the Ukrainian state – Russia’s annexation of Crimea, the invasion of its troops in the East, the information war, the propaganda of the so-called “Russian world”, etc. – are not new. In many ways, they repeat what happened in 1917-1918. In particular, the proclamation of puppet pseudo-republics “DNR” and “LNR” in the East of Ukraine, through which Russian troops de facto launched the war against Ukraine. That is why modern Ukrainian politicians need to learn the lessons from the past. Nowadays, when Ukraine is defending its independence from Russia, Ukrainian statesmen and politicians must abandon their narrow party and self-interests and work together to protect national achievements from the encroachments of the “Russian world”, the most important of which is the state of Ukraine.

Російсько-українська війна на Донбасі в українському кінематографі

Російська влада не визнає своєї участі у війні на Донбасі. Приховування участі у військових конфліктах — давня російська політична традиція. Радянський Союз, який був модернізованою Росією, не визнавав, що воював у Кореї, В’єтнамі, Анголі, Огадені. Сучасна Росія, яка ввела свої війська на Донбас, на офіційному рівні переконує світову спільноту та росіян, що ця війна — внутрішній громадянський конфлікт України. Хоча в інтернеті доступна вся інформація про те, які російські підрозділи воюють на Донбасі, хто ними керує і звідки йдуть потоки російської техніки, зброї, боєприпасів, солдатів, офіцерів і навіть де ховають убитих російських вояків.Тому фільми про війну на Донбасі допомагають зрозуміти масовій аудиторії, хто насправді воює в Східній Україні. Цій темі присвячена стаття, у якій аналізуються ігрові фільми про російсько-українську війну, яка триває на Донбасі. Зокрема, серіал Олексія Шапарева «Гвардія», фільми Ахтема Сеїтаблаєва «Кіборги. Герої не вмирають», Сергія Лозниці «Донбас», Зази Буадзе «Позивний „Бандерас”», Івана Тимченка «Іловайськ 2014. Батальйон „Донбас”», Валентина Васяновича «Атлантида», Володимира Тихого «Наші котики».У контексті світового кінематографу та особливостей національного характеру подається, як сучасне українське кіно розвиває комедійні традиції фільмів про війну. Показано реакцію на фільми про війну українських глядачів, критиків, російських політиків і державних службовців та нагороди фільмів на кінофестивалях.

Громадсько-політичні та літературно-художні періодичні видання в юнацькому щоденнику С. Єфремова

Процеси глобалізації у світі, які заявили про себе на межі ХХ–ХХІ століть, суттєво вплинули на літературний процес: художня література стала помітно втрачати свої позиції, її стрімко почала витісняти документальна література, до якої належить мемуаристика, котра має достатньо розвинену жанрову систему, одним із провідних жанрів якої є щоденник. Поступово цей жанр літератури non fiction став виходити з периферії наукових студій. Щоденник С. Єфремова, що досі був маловідомим юнацьким твором ученого, уможливив краще зрозуміти його постать, формування світоглядних позицій, засвідчив коло періодичних видань, які він читав.Метою статті є з’ясування кола періодичних видань, які регулярно читав автор щоденника; визначення його симпатій та антипатій щодо тодішньої періодики в Росії та Австро-Угорщині; відзначення зародження співпраці з окремими журналами; простеження відстоювання україноцентричних позицій у полеміці з українофобами в російській періодиці, окреслення кроків щодо налагодження видавничої діяльності.В умовах відсутності видань українською мовою в Росії, автор щоденника прагнув читати прогресивні російськомовні журнали й газети, зокрема «Русское Богатство», «Киевское Слово» (після змін у редколегії). За ініціативи С. Єфремова в Київській духовній семінарії була організована спілка, що колективно передплачувала прогресивні періодичні видання. Важливу роль у пробудженні національної свідомості українців мали львівські видання «Зоря», «Правда», «Дзвінок», з якими С. Єфремов прагнув налагодити співпрацю, де були надруковані його ранні художні й публіцистичні твори.Юнацький щоденник С. Єфремова — це вдала проба пера майбутнього українського вченого, журналіста, публіциста, видавця, редактора, державного та політичного діяча, організатора науки в Україні.

Деякі аспекти правового режиму воєнного стану в Україні: порядок введення та припинення дії

В останні роки, на тлі російської збройної агресії проти нашої держави, певними українськими політиками, громадськими діячами, у засобах масової інформації час від часу порушуються питання щодо необхідності уведення в Україні правового режиму воєнного стану. Разом з тим, як показала практика, законодавче врегулювання питання уведення правового режиму воєнного стану не відповідало умовам, що склались під час російської збройної агресії проти України. Тому керівництвом держави було ініційоване внесення суттєвих змін до законодавства для правового забезпечення протидії збройній агресії РФ, зокрема й у питанні запровадження правового режиму воєнного стану. Метою статті є: на основі проведеного аналізу положень вітчизняного законодавства та міжнародного гуманітарного права, досвіду запровадження в листопаді-грудні минулого року в Україні положення правового режиму воєнного стану, розкрити його сутність, мету, заходи, а також основні питання порядку його уведення та припинення дії. У статті розтлумачені і систематизовані поняття: воєнний конфлікт − форма розв’язання міждержавних або внутрішньодержавних суперечностей із двостороннім застосуванням воєнної сили. Основними видами воєнних конфліктів є війна та збройний конфлікт ; локальна війна − війна між двома чи більше державами, у якій воєнні дії обмежені територіями воюючих держав та переслідують воєнно-політичні цілі, що зачіпають переважно інтереси лише цих держав (територіальні, політичні, економічні тощо); регіональна війна − війна, що охоплює певний регіон (частину континенту) за участю всіх чи більшості держав регіону та з метою досягнення воєнно-політичних цілей, що зачіпають інтереси цих держав; інші ‑ особливий правовий режим, особливі повноваження, особливий період, воєнний стан. Викладені у статті результати проведеного наукового дослідження щодо правового режиму воєнного стану дозволить більш системно та цілеспрямовано його запроваджувати органами виконавчої влади, органами місцевого самоврядування та органами військового управління, а також використовувати у навчальному процесі Національного університету оборони України імені Івана Черняховського та інших навчальних закладах.

ГЕНДЕРНІ ОСОБЛИВОСТІ ПОЛІТИЧНОГО ДИСКУРСУ

The article is devoted to the description of gender peculiarities in political discourse. In the recent decades the problems of the gender differentiation of speech have been developing rapidly, acquiring the priority importance in Ukrainian and foreign linguistics. The differences of male and female speeches aim to determine the degree of effectiveness of the impact of gendered approaches in political communication on male and female audiences. Men and women have been alleged to differ in every area of psychological functioning at one point or another, so language use is not an exception. Gender in politics is particularly interesting to study, as there is a tendency of increasing of the women’s number in political positions around the world in today's world. Gender is one of the most important individual-level attributes known to structure patterns of social connectivity in human social networks. We identify gender strategies as a factor in the realization of the language of the politician in mass media, identify and describe the speech strategies and tactics used by female politicians in the political media discourse. Exploring the gender pecularities of political interaction, we pay attention to the gender specifics of communication in general. Typological analysis of political speeches of Britain, American and Ukrainian politicians is made, their gender differences is proved, importance of gender component of modern political discourse is demonstrated. The official nature of political speeches and features of the socio-legal status of political leaders oblige them to comply with certain norms and rules of communicative behavior. Politicians must combine lexical, morphological and syntactic features of discourse to effect and inform listeners and in the same time not overload their speech, so that the speech does not seem difficult to understand, as well as devoid of any meaning. The female politicians were shown to be more formal, critical and task-focused, while the male politicians were more socially oriented and elaborative. While the female politicians worked on establishing themselves as independent politicians, the male politicians embraced their collective identities.

POLAND–UKRAINE RELATIONS IN THE DIGITAL POLITICAL DISCOURSE OF POLAND (ON THE MATERIAL OF POLISH PRESIDENT OFFICIAL WEBSITE IN 2004-2015)

In this study news policy of the polish president official website is regarded to be a mirror of Poland – Ukraine relations. It’s assumed that it’s possible to recreate the dynamics of international relations forming within both news geography analysis (comparative analysis of different countries coverage) and formal analysis of news headlines types. News from news archive of the official website of the President of the Republic of Poland were collected and content-analyzed for the dynamics of international relations recreation. With the simple qualitative comparable analysis was shown, that Ukraine was the most popular country among the post-Soviet countries (it was so even before the Euromaidan). And the change of Ukraine presidents in 2010 with radical shift of international orientations didn’t reflect the intensity of attention. With the additional analysis of headlines types was shown, that for Poland Ukraine isn’t only the most popular country, the contacts with it are more varied than mutual relations with other countries. It can be demonstrated with the different levels and different formats usage. In the result of comparison with Polish – Russia relations was demonstrated, that the similar approach towards seeking ways for maintain relations between the countries was used (especially before 2008), however, it was con the deficit of both attention intensity and headlines variety. In the cases of Georgia and Ukraine news policy is more formal for Georgia, more detailed and informal for Ukraine. Thus, comparative analysis of different types of headlines use shows a special, attentive and favorable attitude towards Ukraine, which don’t change during Ukrainian changes of priorities in international politics and during times of crises. During the latter, Poland implements more new formats of contacts with Ukrainian politicians and appeals for wide network of international community. Meanwhile, the analysis have some limitations. It may be implemented only for countries with high number of mentions and doesn’t consider the types of news and. Thus, it’s may be complicated to define the essence of international relations. So, there is a need to define other formal approaches, which will help to classify texts.

THE ILOVAISK TRAGEDY OF 2014 IN THE DISCOURSE OF UKRAINIAN PUBLIC OPINION

The perception of the Ilovaisk tragedy of 2014 in the discourse of Ukrainian public opinion is analyzed. The tragedy («Ilovaisk cattle») was in surrounding a group of Ukrainian troops about 1,200 soldiers by the regular units of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (RF Armed Forces) and Russian terrorist groups near Ilovaisk, Donetsk region. While leaving the «cattle» through the humanitarian corridor, the Ukrainian soldiers came under shelling by the Russian side. Pro-government circles saw among the causes of such a tragic situation the treachery of the Russian leadership. Previously having agreed with Kyiv that it would release Ukrainian fighters from the encirclement, it eventually committed the shootings. Another reason was the betrayal of some Ukrainian soldiers who deserted from defensive positions, creating for the enemy favorable conditions to encircle. The participants of the events, experts, media partly accused the Ukrainian state and military leadership of inertia, passivity, and ignoring reports about the need for reinforcements. However, some military analysts acknowledged that the Ukrainian military command had done everything possible in the circumstances. Along with Russian intervention as the main part in the Ilovaisk tragedy, some experts saw a benefit for some Ukrainian politicians, as the constant threat factor could be used in the run-up canvassing to the October 2014 snap parliamentary elections. Finally, the criminal case concerning the Ilovaisk tragedy, which continues up today, has already been assessed by the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine (GPU). According to assessment, the deaths of Ukrainian soldiers and the loss of weapons and military equipment near Ilovaisk were directly connected with the actions of the RF Armed Forces, which on August 23-24, 2014, treacherously invaded the Donetsk region and murdered Ukrainian soldiers. It was concluded that the Ilovaisk tragedy had not only hard military but also political consequences for the country, in particular, due to the adoption of the Minsk agreements under the pressure of the tragedy, which showed itself in an imperfect «truce», which, was repeatedly violated by the enemy. Keywords: Ilovaisk tragedy, Ukrainian public opinion, politicum, mass media, expert circles, Ukraine, Russia.

Ukrainian, Russophone, (Other) Russian: Hybrid Identities and Narratives in Post-Soviet Culture and Politics by Marco Puleri

Reviewed by: Ukrainian, Russophone, (Other) Russian: Hybrid Identities and Narratives in Post-Soviet Culture and Politics by Marco Puleri Anna Vozna (bio) Marco Puleri, Ukrainian, Russophone, (Other) Russian: Hybrid Identities and Narratives in Post-Soviet Culture and Politics ( Berlin: Peter Lang, 2020). 294 pp. Bibliography. Index. ISBN: 978-3-631-81662-2. People in Ukraine keep speaking and creating in Russian. But no one seems to know what to do about it. What should the status of their language be in Ukraine? How should the cultural artifacts they produce be treated? It is challenging to answer these questions because to find the solutions, one first needs to understand who the Russian speakers in Ukraine are exactly, what culture they are more a part of, Ukrainian or Russian, and whether speaking and creating in Russian makes them closer to the ideology of the country Ukraine is now at war with. So far, there is no consensus on this matter. A possible explanation for this absence could be one offered by Ilya Gerasimov: that the positionality of Russian speakers in Ukraine is so peculiar that the available ontological and epistemological tools cannot serve to describe it since the Ukrainian revolution and its aftermath involve an unprecedented historical process in the making in which conventional [End Page 336] categories and models are becoming obsolete (P. 39).1 To be sure, some propositions for redefining the status of Russian in Ukraine have been made. The Ukrainian politician Boris Filatov, the American historian Timothy Snyder, and the Ukrainian writer Andrei Kurkov have, at different times, suggested reappropriating Russian as a Ukrainian cultural good and institutionalizing it so that Ukraine develops its own center of Russian that would be independent from the Russian Federation. However, while such propositions have been made, they do not seem to be supported by substantial theoretical grounds that would clearly explain what Russophone culture in Ukraine is and why one would want to support it. Marco Puleri's new book offers precisely this theoretical substantiation and attempts to define the scope of Russophone culture in Ukraine through the lens of hybridity. The author proposes viewing Ukrainian Russophone culture as both Ukrainian and Russian and explains how and why it can be accepted as a valuable element of the Ukrainian cultural scene. He achieves this by first analyzing the works of Russophone Ukrainian writers and then extending his analysis of literary works to the broader cultural processes in Ukraine. His work demonstrates how these writers function within the literary markets of the two countries, how they reappropriate literary works from both literary traditions, and how they permeate their works with the peculiar local language, which, uttered using Russian words but relying on syntax emerging from the Ukrainian political realities, is both Ukrainian and Russian. Chapter 1 of Puleri's book provides a brief historical overview of how the current positionality of Russophone Ukrainian writers has emerged and outlines what is so problematic about it from the postcolonial perspective. Analyzing examples of Gogol and Shevchenko, Puleri shows that hybridity has a long history in Ukraine and is an inalienable feature of Russophone Ukrainian literature. He also argues that the drawing of ethnolinguistic borders in Ukraine is a part of the political and cultural clash between Ukraine and Russia. Chapter 2 develops this analysis from the vantage point of literary markets. Here the author reconstructs the most common language ideologies and the ways Russian is perceived in Ukraine. He also traces the impact of the literary markets of Ukraine and Russia on how these perceptions emerged. Russophone Ukrainian authors, Puleri suggests, have long been perceived as Russian [End Page 337] because they have published their works in Russian publishing houses, received Russian literary awards, and distributed their works in Russia. Now that they choose not to engage with these markets, the author speculates, Ukrainian readers' perspectives on them might change and so might their perspectives on what can be counted as Ukrainian literature. In chapter 3, Puleri offers a new perspective on Russophone Ukrainian works by analyzing them through the lens of Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari's concept of minor literature. This allows him to view the Russophone literature of writers working in...

SOCIAL POLICY IN THE DISCOURSE OF POLITICAL PARTIES IN THE SNAP ELECTION TO THE VERKHOVNA RADA IN 2014

The article describes the political parties' approach to implementing the state's social policy during the snap election to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in 2014. A discursive dimension of political parties' activities in the area of social policy was studied. Specific examples have shown political parties as a subject of social policy formation. It was found out that the events of the Revolution of Dignity and the beginning of Russia's military aggression against Ukraine forced Ukrainian politicians to reconsider existing approaches to the formation of party programs. The author analyzed the reflection of social policy in the election programs of the parties that had formed parliamentary groups: «Blok Petra Poroshenka «Solidarnist», «Narodnyi front», Radykalnoi partii Oleha Liashka, «Opozytsiinyi blok», «Obiednannia «Samopomich», «Vseukrainskoho obiednannia «Batkivshchyna». Domestic political events were reflected in the party's discourse on social policy, shifting the priorities in the election programs of political forces in the direction of security policy, improving defense capabilities, and fighting corruption. The main tendencies related to the change of political parties' approaches to forming state social policy are revealed. Dominating the liberal approach to social policy issues in parliamentary parties' programs was aimed at reducing the state's role. At the same time, the speeches of political forces on social policy were mostly full of populist slogans and, in most cases, did not contain any specifics, including ways to solve social problems in society. Trying to get as much electoral support as possible, politicians did not bother to develop real program steps in the social sphere. Instead, the social sphere problems, which had a systemic character, were not solved based on a clear "road map" of actions. The discourse of the political parties participating in the election race, which eventually formed the parliament, did not present a comprehensive program for forming and implementing social policy in the new political environment. Keywords: political parties, social policy, social state, Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, political discourse.

Europe as an Object of Desire: Ukraine between “Psychological Europe” and the “Soviet Mentality”

The article explores the idea of Europe in the Ukrainian national imaginary and its correlates in behavioral modes of modern Ukrainians. The conceptual tension exists between the imaginary “Us” (an affirmative “Ukraine is Europe”) and the real “Us” rooted in Soviet practices and mental attitudes. The main actors articulating the concept of Europe are distinguished: political elites/“officials”; cultural elites/“intellectuals”; civil society/“activists”; lay citizens/“electorate”. It is proved that for most Ukrainians Europe is not a value-in-itself; it is an empty signifier with variable content defined by divergent agendas. For Ukrainian politicians, declarative European integration is a geopolitical tool aimed at obtaining prestige/recognition and a protective umbrella of the EU, with no internal reforms by the European model. For cultural elites, “Europe” stands as a “civilizational standard” setting a framework for the search for national authenticity. Immanent Europeanness of the Ukrainian culture is proclaimed in the “frontstage” discourse, while in the “backstage” discourse, the lack of (self)recognition manifests itself through the symptom of being “more European than Europe”. Attempts “to acquire ourselves via Europe” are complemented with the desire “to rescue Europe via acquiring ourselves”. For citizens, “Europe” is a path to prosperity (“to build Europe at home”); yet, the content remains vague. A political struggle unfolds between the stakeholders of the captured state and public activists for the cornerstone ideas and principles, as well as for the trust of lay citizens as a political resource.

НАЦІОНАЛЬНА ІДЕНТИЧНІСТЬ І НАЦІОНАЛЬНА ІДЕЯ ЯК ЧИННИКИ ДЕРЖАВОБУДУВАННЯ

Although it is obvious that an adequate account of the notion of national identity requires a certain understanding of national consciousness, there is still no generally accepted theory regarding the latter. The article considers the connection of state-building and nation-building. The most important tool of nation-building is the dissemination of national consciousness and national identity. The article analyzes the creation of a national idea and considers the major reasons for the incompleteness of Ukrainian nation-building, which results from a lack of political consensus and a comparatively low level of the cultural development of Ukrainian society. For this purpose, we have researched various political materials from web resources using the tools of a structural-functional approach, discourse analysis and content analysis. The study opens deeper insights into the genuine values, interests, motives, stereotypes, attitudes, strategies and tactics of some politicians. No aspect of national idea is more more puzzling than nation consciousness and national identity. Despite the lack of any agreed upon theory of national consciousness, there is a widespread, if less than universal, understand that an adequate account of national identity requires a clear understanding of it. We need to understand both what nation consciousness, national identity, national idea, nation and state-building. Therefore the problem of Ukrainian nation and state building results from contradictory ideas od Ukrainian politicians, the lack of a common national idea as such, and the dissemination of false information among the electorate.

Współpraca ukraińskich, słoweńskich i chorwackich konserwatystów w wiedeńskiej Radzie Państwa we „Wspomnieniach z mojego życia” Ołeksandra Barwińskiego (1897–1904)

Cooperation of the Ukrainian, Slovenian and Croatian conservatives in the Imperial Council in Oleksandr Barvinsky’s “Memories of my life” (1897–1904) The article analyzes the history of cooperation between the Ukrainian group of the Viennese Imperial Council members and Slovenian and Croatian conservative politicians within the Slavic Christian People’s Union and “Slavic Center” factions on the basis of a memoir of Oleksandr Barvinsky, one of the leading Ukrainian politicians at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The author studies the reasons that inspired Barvinsky to such a cooperation, and to what extent it was part of the ideological principles of himself and of the Ukrainian Christian-social movement, which he created and headed in Galicia. The main stages of the activity of both factions are examined as well as factors that influenced their effectiveness. Despite their considerable potential and local successes, the parliamentary clubs created by the conservative Ukrainians, Slovenes and Croatians could not fully realize their agenda. The main reasons, widely considered in the memoir, were a deep political crisis in Cisleithania and, as a consequence, the parliament’s inability to take constructive action, as well as the decline of political influence and popularity of Ukrainian conservatives and Oleksandr Barvinsky himself.

Євген Маланюк – основоположник літературного міфу України ХХ ст

Myths are regarded as the metaphysical engines of the national progress, a specific code-program for the state development, as a vector of the individual mission of an individual nation. In general, the ideological and political myths of national states are metaphorically derived primarily from their national anthems. The anthem is a kind of vaccine against assimilation and is effectively delivered to educate the younger generation in the spirit of civic consciousness. Decadent (frustration) myths destroy the national idea, vitaistic and consolidating myths inspire, compact and unite any nation. The National Anthem, as the primary literary formulation of the national idea, gives impetus to the constant creation by the writers of the myth of the state and the nation as a specific phenomenon at the artistic level. The literary myths of stateless peoples are always preceded by the emergence of their own ideological and political myths as well. Among the most talented passionaries of every «incomplete» nation, there must be a talented philosopher or politician who will be able to verbally formulate the idea of a new ideological-political myth, which will be based on a national idea. Similarly, in the nineteenth century the ideological-political myth for Ukrainians was «Law of God (Book of Being of the Ukrainian People)» by M. Kostomarov. It is natural that this philosophical and propaganda work had a great influence on Kobzar and led to the creation of the literary myth of Ukraine by our national poet-genius, T. Shevchenko. The beginning of the twentieth century for the Ukrainians was marked by the tragic fall of the young state of the UNR. The nation had to start all over again in order to endure. There was a need for a new ideological and political myth of Ukraine of the twentieth century. It was created by Ye. Malaniuk with his own essays about the most talented Ukrainian politicians, including B. Khmelnitskyi and I. Mazepa, as well as M. Hrushevskyi and S. Petliura. In his essays on the past of Ukraine Ye. Malaniuk not only wrote about biographies of bright historical figures, but above all analyzed Ukrainian national victories and tragedies, logically argued mistakes and losses of our nation’s leaders, considered the issues of «his» and «alien», determined a peculiar «doctrine», submitted in a wide typre of «enemy face» of the Ukrainian statehood. Ye. Malaniuk also analyzed the positive and negative features of the Ukrainian mentality, aptly raised the question of passion, foresighted the stages of becoming the future of Ukraine as a sovereign nation-state at the end of the twentieth century. On the basis of his own ideological and political myth, the poet started to create the literary consolidating myth of Ukraine. His initiative was taken by contemporaries of the artist – the most talented writers-modernists of the Ukrainian diaspora of the twentieth century. The concept of the literary myth of Ukraine has been considered by the researcher Olha Slon’ovska; the significant role played by Ye. Malaniuk as a poet and essay writer in creating the literary myth has been revealed.

Ukraine in Polish Electronic Publicistic Periodicals in the Ukrainian Language (2017—2019): Cognitive Aspect

The article analyzes Ukraine in Ukrainian electronic publicistic periodicals, namely “Nashe Slovo” ta “Nash vybir” for 2017–2019. The choice of the study period is due to the fact that it most clearly characterizes the dynamics of coverage of Ukrainian-Polish relations and events in Ukraine by foreign media. The research defines several main issues addressed by the authors to form the respective image of Ukraine for the citizens and its perception by the Poles. Among them are: characteristics of Ukrainian-Polish historical relations and Ukrainian politicians; political issues; attitudes towards Ukrainian immigrants and wage earners. The most discussed and described topic in foreign editions was the topic of presidential and parliamentary elections in Ukraine; also the publications focused on Ukrainians’ voting abroad. The perception of Ukraine and its characteristics in the Ukrainian-language weekly “Nashe Slovo” and newspaper “Nash vybir” were formed on the basis of sociopolitical and Ukrainian-Polish historical events, their impact on the global political situation. Such images and characteristics of Ukraine, Ukrainians, and Ukrainian politicians that remained unchanged during the analyzed period are distinguished: Ukraine as an important neighbor, the “barbaric state”, “Bandera ideology”, “Bandera monuments”, “Banderism”; Ukrainians as “murderers, hostile neighbors, traitors”; V. Viatrovych as “a moderate wing of Ukrainian nationalists”, P. Poroshenko as “the most likable Ukrainian oligarch”, Yu. Tymoshenko as a “veteran” of Ukrainian politics, V. Zelenskyi’s hybrid election campaign. Thus, despite the recent decrease in the number of Poles with a positive attitude towards Ukraine, and the crisis in Ukrainian-Polish relations, Poland remains interested in the development and stability of Ukraine, its democratic changes and integration into the European space.

URBAN ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISM: SEEKING SYNERGIES

The article is devoted to the analysis of urban environmental movements in Odessa in the context of practical philosophy and the ideas of an ecological society and the ‘right to a city’. The so-called grassroots activism is developing and gaining strength in Ukrainian cities. The nature of activism is rooted in a heightened sense of justice, so caring citizens are often not limited to solving a local problem. The protest ceases to be the prerogative of politically colored movements. It turns out that even apolitical citizens, starting to improve their own and neighboring living conditions, become involved in the protest movement, which one way or another merges into a big political protest or comes down to it.As the progressive world community developed in the coordinate system to improve economic, social and environmental trends, Ukraine focused on addressing mainly economic problems. If it comes to the future, then following the economy, as intended by most Ukrainian politicians, social policy should improve. The absence of environmental policy in the country also explains the long-standing inertia of society in solving environmental problems. Extremely low is the level of environmental education, environmental awareness and culture not only of the population, but also of the heads of enterprises, government organizations.For Ukraine affected by the Chornobyl disaster, a structural transformation of the economy is now required, and it is very important to ensure sustained growth, without increasing the environmental risks. Such a concept of development is commonly called ‘green economy’ or ‘green democracy’. Green Democracy is based on the values of participatory democracy, gender equality, environmentalism and social justice.