Choosing a Mother Tongue

The Politics of Language and Identity in Ukraine

By (author) Corinne A. Seals

Publication date:

11 October 2019

Publisher

Multilingual Matters

Dimensions:

234x156mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9781788924993

This book presents a sociocultural linguistic analysis of discourses of conflict, as well as an examination of how linguistic identity is embodied, negotiated and realized during a time of war. It provides new insights regarding multilingualism among Ukrainians in Ukraine and in the diaspora of New Zealand, the US and Canada, and sheds light on the impact of the Russian-Ukrainian war on language attitudes among Ukrainians around the world. Crucially, it features an analysis of a new movement in Ukraine that developed during the course of the war – ‘changing your mother tongue’, which embodies what it is to renegotiate linguistic identity. It will be of value to researchers, faculty, and students in the areas of linguistics, Slavic studies, history, politics, anthropology, sociology and international affairs, as well as those interested in Ukrainian affairs more generally.

This book is open access under a CC BY NC ND licence.

Chapter 1. Historical Language Ideologies and Sociopolitical Conflict in Ukraine

Chapter 2. Language and Identity After the Orange Revolution

Chapter 3. Othering and Positioning During a Time of War

Chapter 4. Who’s Responsible? The Politics of Language

Chapter 5. Renegotiating Identity and ‘Changing Your Mother Tongue’

Chapter 6. Investment and Loyalty in the Ukrainian Diaspora

Chapter 7. ‘It Doesn’t Matter What You Speak’: Challenges to Dominant Language Ideologies by Ukrainian Young Adults

Concluding Thoughts

Appendices

Seals examines language and identity among Ukrainians in Ukraine and in diaspora in great depth, introducing for the first time in sociolinguistics the discourse of ‘changing your mother tongue’ which occurred throughout the narratives of the Ukrainians interviewed by her from 2009 to 2015. The result is a masterful study of language and identity among Ukrainians after the Orange Revolution and during a time of war.