LETTER TO THE EDITOR (07/17/05)

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Impressions of a visit to Kyiv

Dear Editor:

Anyone who expects to hear the Ukrainian language from passport control officials when arriving at Kyiv's Boryspil Airport is an optimist. Figure out in advance how to be a sport. And if Aerosvit, the Ukrainian airline, is your carrier, the only trace of Ukrainian comes from recorded "welcome aboard" and "fasten your seatbelts" messages. Virtually all warm bodies, passengers and stewards, seem to be living out a journey from Vladivostok to Moscow. An ideal place to start learning Russian.

The language landscape on the street in Kyiv, the city that voted for independence by a large margin in 1991 (as it would today) and went over 60 percent for Viktor Yushchenko in the December 2004 presidential election, can be looked at from several angles.

If someone is of the opinion that the language is in much better shape today than it was under the Soviet regime, keep dreaming. This summer, after some absence, I found Kyiv about the same as it was in the year 1943. In the mindset of the average resident, to speak Ukrainian connotes lower social rank, the village and no class.

A friend in Kyiv of mixed German-Ukrainian lineage puts it this way: "Russian in Kyiv is like Hochdeutsch in Germany. Ukrainian is looked at as Plattdeutsch"(the dialect of plain folks in Germany's south). In Kyiv this notion also pervades the business community and government bureaucracy.

Ethnic Ukrainian Russophones (EURs) are the face of Kyiv. They can also speak pidgin Ukrainian when answering questions from diaspora types, if so inclined. Getting a large chunk of the EUR vote in Kyiv and outside is crucial to winning elections. Mr. Yushchenko did well among the EURs mainly because he was the only credible alternative to the corrupt Kuchma regime. "We shall win together" - expressed in both languages - was his winning slogan. Television and radio are mostly in Russian.

Ukraine's president undoubtedly knows that, to maintain his plurality base, he must not press the language issue. That's one of the reasons why the darling of nationally conscious Ukrainians of the younger generation seems to be Yulia Tymoshenko, not Mr. Yushchenko. By and large, language and national awareness are the two sides of the same coin. But Ms. Tymoshenko's party gets only about 13 percent of the overall vote in opinion polls, somewhat less than the second-place Communist Party. Despite her finite base, there seems to be a broad perception in Ukraine that no other politician has sufficient prestige to step into her shoes as the prime minister.

It is possible to be of two minds about language. An ephemeral view is to wait and see, and pretend that this is a side issue. Or one can say that "Russian is an indigenous language of Ukraine," as some have apparently convinced themselves.

In more lucid moments, however, it is clear that Ukraine's language chimera is a collective identity disorder, showing signs of a fatal disease. There is no explosive ethnic conflict in Ukraine mainly because it was forcibly resolved in Russia's favor some time ago.

In conclusion, let's note that, according to a May 5 report by the official information agency Ukrinform, in a poll conducted by Democratic Initiatives, 36.9 percent favor nationwide official status for the Russian language. In a separately asked question, 39.6 percent favor official status for Russian only for regions in which a majority wants it. Inexplicably, the sum of these two numbers (76.5 percent) was cited by Interfax and quoted in some publications (including The Ukrainian Weekly of May 29 per Interfax) as evidence of the strongly favored language.

Whatever the real figure, the virtual absence of the Ukrainian language on the Kyiv street is outright self-degrading. The overall impression is reminiscent of the mythical centaur, a creature half-man and half-horse. The diaspora's grand illusion cannot hide the reality, and the Orange Revolution was not able to push it aside.

Nonetheless, there is a silver lining for those who are into museums and cathedrals. For those who are not, the city itself offers fabulous panoramic views, architecture, and elegance that rival Paris. For philosophers, the best places are in experience-Ukraine restaurants such as Kozak Mamai (Prorizna No. 4) and Korchma (Khreschatyk No. 44), followed by Dynamo Stadium.

Incidentally, my wife and I met two strangers on the street whose Ukrainian was excellent. Both were Jewish.

Boris Danik
North Caldwell, N.J.

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