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Ukraine
Culture & Identity
Ukraine's Personality
Ukraine is Russia's ugly
sister whether she wants to be or not, but once you get beyond that, she's really
quite pleasant. Having begun her modern history under the Russians she has been
abused, neglected, and famished to such a sever degree that she has even accepted
the name "Ukraine," meaning "edge lands," which the Russians
gave her.
Unlike her neighbor, Ukrainian culture is based on village
life in the mountains; each hillside speaking a different dialect, having slightly
different traditions, and varying degrees of architecture. The other side of Ukrainian
culture is made up of Cossacks, the wild sabre-wielding horsemen who followed in
the tradition of the Mongols and conquered much of Siberia
for Russia. Today the country is nearly divided between
ethnic Russians and Ukrainians so stands without clear direction; Ukraine can't
decide if it wants to shift west or remain with its familiar, but abusive older
sister, Russia.
Identity
Ukrainians identify in multiple ways: in the west many
villagers see themselves as a member of their village or of their ethnic origins
(Hungarian, Polish,
Slovak, Ukrainian), even altering their clocks to be on Budapest or Bratislava
time. In the cities, many young ethnic Ukrainians are more and more strongly identifying
as "Ukrainian" and are seeking the freedom and capitalism of the west.
Meanwhile, older Ukrainians fear rapid change and are content with the present state.
In the east, many ethnic Russians tend to move towards Russia
politically and in the south the Tatars in the Crimean Peninsula seek "justification"
for past wrongs. Each group defines itself with a differing identity, and how each
defines that identity and how they work together will determine Ukraine's future.
This page was last updated: February, 2012