Language Policy of Ukraine: Post-colonial Traditions and Anti-colonial Tendencies

Abstract

The article describes common features of the colonial impact of Russia in the form of empire and the Soviet Union on the language policy of Ukraine, specifics of anti-colonial resistance and post-colonial manifestations caused by the deliberate purposeful influence of pro-Russian politicians and unconscious creation of norms of the Ukrainian language and foundations of the language policy under the influence of the inertia formed in the colonial society. Two factors of Ukraine's language policy were highlighted: the codification of literary language norms, and the legislative consolidation of the statuses of languages functioning in Ukraine, along with their specific uses in various aspects of social life. The article also describes the influence of Ukrainian linguists' inertia and the habit of perceiving Ukrainian language phenomena through the prism of the Russian language, as well as codifying the norms of the Ukrainian literary language by analogy with the Russian language. The article analyzes Ukraine’s language legislation, which establishes the status of Ukrainian as the state language and addresses the languages of indigenous peoples and national minorities. It also examines the normative regulation of the Russian language prior to the full-scale invasion by the Russian Federation, when pro-Russian politicians systematically promoted its special status, limiting the use of Ukrainian and neglecting the languages of indigenous peoples and national minorities. Additionally, the article addresses the current status of Russian as the language of the aggressor and occupying country. The positive impact of the expert assessments by the Council of Europe and its bodies on Ukraine's language legislation, particularly in ensuring the language rights of national minorities, has been demonstrated.