Remaking Terra Cosacorum: Kozak Revival and Kozak Collective Identity in Independent Ukraine by Huseyin Oylupinar A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Modern Languages and Cultural Studies and Department of History and Classics University of Alberta © Huseyin Oylupinar, 2014 ABSTRACT This dissertation was undertaken to test the premise whether the modern Kozak revival was or could be used as a platform by the Ukrainian national cultural establishment for renegotiation, reformation, and consolidation of national identity in post-Soviet Ukraine. Its primary aim was to observe the relevance and function of deeds, images, traditions, memories and spaces—that is, the symbolic sources of the Kozak forefathers in addressing the problems of national consolidation in the present time. Secondarily, it was to explore the tools used in communication, propagation and negotiation of Kozak identity in Ukraine today. To observe the functions of Kozak symbolic sources, the dissertation traces them from the late 17th century to the fall of the Soviet Union. To investigate the tools used for communicating, propagating and negotiating Kozak identity the dissertation examines modern-day Kozak communities, and Kozak physical and cultural spaces. Working on the presumptions —that post-Soviet Ukraine would require national consolidation, —that bridging the Kozak past into the present would constitute an essential process of national consolidation, and —that via Kozak symbolic sources nationally oriented Ukrainians would efficiently rediscover, reinterpret and regenerate the Kozak identity, an examination of the primary and secondary sources, and the original oral narratives gathered in the course of on-site fieldwork demonstrated ii convincingly that the Kozak revival has been an active and effective tool of the Ukrainian national establishment in negotiating and propagating national identity in independent Ukraine. iii PREFACE This dissertation is an original work by Huseyin Oylupinar. This research project, of which this dissertation is a part, received research ethics approval from the University of Alberta Ethics Board, Project name “Kozaks in Ukrainian Collective Memory”, No. HERO Pro00015060, April 28, 2011. iv To my mentors and To my parents v ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor Natalie Kononenko. She mentored me carefully to develop as a good scholar. It was an honour and a privilege to learn from her and receive her support. She is an inspiration and a role-model. Without her invaluable assistance and guidance this dissertation would not come into existence. I would like to thank John- Paul Himka for co-supervising the dissertation. His comments, suggestions and tireless support were invaluable. I also would like to thank Frank Sysyn whose suggestions have made a critical contribution to the development of the content of the dissertation. Special thanks go to Lubomyr Hajda. The completion of the dissertation would not have been possible without his support and assistance in the final stages of the dissertation writing. He edited the text and gave an indispensible help in improving the content of the dissertation. I also would like to thank Tamara Nary, Serdar Acar, Dragoş Mateescu, Erem Altunbulaklı, Ozan Arslan, Assel Rustemova and Anna Abakunova for proofreading the text. I would like to thank Peter Holloway for his wisdom and support in difficult times. I would like to thank the Kule Centre in Ukrainian and Canadian Folklore for the Kule Ukrainian Folklore Graduate Travel Bursary. I am grateful to Roman Procyk of the Ukrainian Studies Fund for making my stay at Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute possible during the last phase of the dissertation. I also would like to thank for the Neporany Fellowship of the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies which allowed partial completion of the write-up in Edmonton. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ACKNOWLEDGEMENT TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES NOTE ON TRANSLITERATION INTRODUCTION……………………………………………...….…………..1 CHAPTER I BRIDGING THE KOZAK PAST: FROM THE ORIGINS TO THE FALL IN THE 18TH CENTURY ………………………………………………………..21 CHAPTER II REDISCOVERY, REINTERPRETATION AND REGENERATION OF KOZAKS: FROM THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE TO THE SOVIET UNION...................................…………..…………....59 CHAPTER III KOZAK REVIVAL: FROM THE LATE SOVIETS TO INDEPENDENT UKRAINE...............................149 CHAPTER IV REVIVAL AND THE MAKING OF MODERN KOZAK SPACES………………….……………….209 CHAPTER V CONSTRUCTION OF THE KOZAK CULTURAL SPACE………………………………………………256 CONCLUSION …………………………………………………………….298 BIBLIOGRAPHY ……………………………………….…………………307 APPENDICES–FIGURES ………………………………………................343 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 3-1: Election of Viacheslav Chornovil as hetman. Figure 3-2: Viacheslav Chornovil. Figure 3-3: Volodymyr Muliava. Figure 3-4: Oleksandr Panchenko’s election as the supreme otaman. Figure 3-5: Oleksandr Panchenko and Viktor Yanukovych signing the agreement of collaboration. Figure 3-6: Oleksandr Panchenko hands bulava to Viktor Yanukovych after his election as the president. Figure 3-7: Ivan Bilas Figure 3-8: Mykola Panteliuk Figure 3-9: Author with Mykola Panteliuk. Figure 3-10: Anatolii Shevchenko Figure 3-11: Author with Anatolii Shevchenko. Figure 3-12: Anatolii Shevchenko is presenting bulava to Pope John- Paul the Second. Figure 3-13: Anatolii Shevchenko is with Moscow Patriarch Aleksei II. Figure 3-14: Dmytro Sahaidak. Figure 4-1: Sampsonia Church. Figure 4-2: The burial mound on the Poltava battlefield. Figure 4-3: The Victory Monument. Figure 4-4: The monument on the spot where Peter I rested after the battle. Figure 4-5: Monument of Peter I. viii Figure 4-6: A postal card for the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Poltava. Figure 4-7: The monument for the Perished Ukrainian Kozaks. Figure 4-8: Mazepa monument in storage. Figure 4-9: A billboard picture: “Mazepa is Victorious, the Ukrainian State Exists.” Figure 4-10: Wooden cross on the battlefield. Figure 4-11: Motria Kochubei’s mock grave. Figure 4-12: Baturyn: new fortifications. Figure 4-13: Baturyn: new fortifications. Figure 4-14: Baturyn: new fortifications. Figure 4-15: Hetman’s building in the fortress. Figure 4-16: The Resurrection Church. Figure 4-17: Battle of Konotop monument. Figure 4-18: Hetman Vyhovskyi monument. Figure 4-19: Kozak church of “Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary” Figure 4-20: The memorial rock dedicated to the defense of the Konotop fortress. Figure 4-21: Kozak church of the Protection of Our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary. Figure 5-1: Ceremonies at Sirko’s grave (1990). Figure 5-2: Triitsia: kobzars on the yard. Figure 5-3: Kozatska Lira: record-breaking performance of kobzars. Figure 5-4: Kozaktska Lira: festival flag. ix Figure 5-5: Spas martial art show. Figure 5-6: Land of Dreams (Kraina mriy) festival. Figure 5-7: Kobzar’s corner. Figure 5-8: Taras Kompanichenko. Figure 5-9: Vinnitsia Kozak Oleksandr Moiisev and the author. Figure 5-10: Shar-Hora: Kozaks lead the ceremonial march. Figure 5-11: Shar-Hora: re-enactment of Kozaks fighting against Ottomans. Figure 5-12: Oleksandr Prytul with the author. Figure 5-13: Spas on Khortytsia: Festival Banner. Figure 5-14: Viktor Yushchenko with Baturyn Kozaks. Figure 5-15: Ceremonial procession of Kozaks at Baturyn fortress. Figure 5-16: The regimental standard of the Baturyn Kozaks. Figure 5-17: Konotop: Kurins at the All-Ukrainian Festival of Kozak Radoslav. Figure 5-18: Crosses at Mamaieva Sloboda. Figure 5-19: Church of Protection of Our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary. Figure 5-20: Taras Kompanichenko at one of the Mamaieva Sloboda events. Figure 5-21: A Kozak marriage at Mamaieva Sloboda. Figure 5-22: A festival at Mamaieva Sloboda. x Note on Transliteration In this dissertation the Ukrainian National Transliteration system is used for Ukrainian personal names and toponyms. For Russian personal names and toponyms are transliterated with Passport 2013 ICAO system. Toponyms are transliterated from the language of the country in which they are located now. City names will appear as they are established in English language. In controversial cases such as Kiev versus Kyiv this dissertation will stick to the Ukrainian transliteration. Zaporozhia will refer to the region, while Zaporizhia will refer to the city proper. xi INTRODUCTION A nation is a soul, a spiritual principle. Two things, which in truth are but one, constitute this soul or spiritual principle. One lies in the past, one in the present. One is the possession in common of a rich legacy of memories; the other is present-day consent, the desire to live together, the will to perpetuate the value of the heritage that one has received in an undivided form . Of all cults, that of the ancestors is the most legitimate, for the ancestors have made us what we are. A heroic past, great men, glory (by which I understand genuine glory), this is the social capital upon which one bases a national idea. Ernest Renan1 In this dissertation I attempt to investigate if the post-Soviet revival of the Kozak movement had a role in the negotiation of memories, symbols and traditions in modern-day Ukraine. My initial ideas, which laid the basis for this dissertation, started with questions about the place of Ottoman Turks in Ukrainian collective memory. My hypothesis was that, after centuries of interaction, the Ukrainian collective memory would carry traces of Turks. My first attempts to test the hypothesis introduced me to the Ukrainian epic tradition (dumy). In fact, dumy texts are graphic in picturing Kozak–Ottoman (Turkish) interaction, which was often characterized as conflictual and warlike in nature. In content, dumy are full of descriptions of historical figures, actual locations, deeds of heroism, the heroic death of the Kozak in his struggle with the “Turk–Tatar,” and impact of Kozak–Turkish relations on daily lives.2 My study of the oral texts led me to elaborate my hypothesis: after long centuries of interaction, modern-day Turks would remain in the collective memory of 1 Ukrainians, and under the impact of the dumy, this collective memory would be a negative one.