Relacja z wzrostu polaryzacji spoleczenstwa ukrainskiego na temat polityki jezykowej w latach 2010-2014

This Master’s thesis examines the effects, intended and unintended, of Ukraine’s Law on Regional Languages of 2012. The introduction of the bill, its being made law, and its revocation, all during a two year period, was a bitterly divisive and polarising issue for Ukrainians, all the more so because language had, until then, been a political non-issue. The debate was inextricably linked with Ukrainian national identity. The thesis examines the complex historical causes of Ukraine’s language diversity and bilingualism. It examines the country’s uneven language distribution as well as some counterintuitive facts (e.g., the generally pragmatic, non-ideological acceptance by Ukrainians of their language situation and the continued acceptance of Russian television programming and Russian language popular culture at a time when Russia is deeply unpopular in Ukraine). The implications of this polarisation for the concept of a unifying Ukrainian national identity are explored. Polling data are provided which show a very slow but very steady rise in the usage of Ukrainian.