Speak Ukrainian

[Shuixiangweibian] Putin loves to emphasize that Russians and Ukrainians have the same race, the same language and the same teaching, and there is no need to divide them so finely. Speaking of the same text, he quoted the observation of Josyf Rutsky, the archbishop of Kiev Galic in the seventeenth century, and pointed out that the people in the two places had the same written language, with only minor deviations in the spoken language, just like the difference between the inhabitants of central and northern Italy. . Today's supporters of Putin tend to hold similar ideas. Some people say that the Ukrainian language is purely fictional, just as the Ukrainian ethnicity is non-existent.

When it comes to the similarities and differences between the two languages, I recently read a unique insight from Yale University professor Timothy Snyder . He thinks Ukraine is just like any other nation in the world, perhaps more interesting. And Ukraine's characteristics are reflected in the fact that the whole country is bilingual and can "code switch" at any time. He described Ukraine as basically a code-switching country, an exception to the norm in Russia and the United States.

And if anything, like what makes Ukrainians a bit different than, let's say, Americans and for that matter, Russians, is that they are bilingual and they will code switch. And so it's not so much like the Ukrainian language. I mean, they have the Ukrainian language, and that does make them different. It's their language and it has a beautiful literary tradition and it's a beautiful spoken language. But they also have the capacity which the Russians lack, which we lack, is the ability to code switch . I shouldn't say we because some Americans can, there are plenty of Americans that are bilingual. But Ukraine is basically a whole nation of code switchers. And it's that thing also which makes them a little bit different and hard for us to understand .

To know the status quo, one must have historical knowledge. Putin grew up in the 1970s, at a time when the Soviet Union was trying to erase Ukrainian identity. Therefore, it is not surprising that Putin will see the whole world as Russia, and will feel that everyone wants to be Russian and speak Russian.

But when Brezhnev takes control from the late 60s and especially from the early 70s forwards, ou have a policy of a very deliberate Russification in Ukraine. And it's at that moment the 1970s that are so important for understanding the present, because that's when people like Putin grew up. You know, so Putin's perspective that everything is basically Russian and like, you know, eveyone really speaks Russian, and even if they seem not to, they really want to. That's a very 1970s perspective on all of this.

The so-called Ukrainian characteristics are of course not unique to Ukraine. How many corners of the world are oppressed by great powers?