Growing out of a Postsocialist World: Teenagers Reconstructing Identities in Western Ukraine
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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO Growing Out of a Postsocialist World: Teenagers Reconstructing Identities in Western Ukraine A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology by Elizabeth A. Peacock Committee in charge: Professor Kathryn A. Woolard, chair Professor John Haviland Professor Martha Lampland Professor Esra Özyürek Professor Akos Rona-Tas 2011 Copyright Elizabeth A. Peacock, 2011 All rights reserved. The dissertation of Elizabeth A. Peacock is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication on microfilm and electronically: _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ Chair University of California, San Diego 2011 iii Table of Contents Signature Page………………………………………………………………………...iii Table of Contents ...................................................................................................... iv Transliteration Key .................................................................................................... ix Transcription Key....................................................................................................... x List of Excerpts… ..................................................................................................... xi List of Figures…. ..................................................................................................... xii List of Tables….. .................................................................................................... xiii List of Vignettes.. .................................................................................................... xiv Acknowledgments .................................................................................................... xv Vita…………….. .................................................................................................... xvi Abstract of the Dissertation .................................................................................... xvii Chapter 1. Introduction: The Construction of Identity in Times and Places of Social Transformation…. ...................................................................................................... 1 The Chronotope: Narratives Of and In the World ............................................ 4 Memory and Nostalgia .................................................................................. 12 Why Study Postsocialist Ukraine? ................................................................ 15 Economic Transformations................................................................ 17 The Global Linguistic Marketplace ................................................... 19 Why Young People? ..................................................................................... 22 Socialization to Ideologies................................................................. 22 Social Identities ................................................................................. 25 iv Youth and Social Transformation ...................................................... 27 Methodology ................................................................................................ 28 Organization of the Dissertation .................................................................... 30 Chapter 2. Living in the Borderlands: A Minority Nation between Two World Superpowers…… ..................................................................................................... 37 Historical Ties .............................................................................................. 39 Unification of Ukrainian lands ...................................................................... 45 Nation-building............................................................................................. 48 Revising History ............................................................................... 52 Citizenship ........................................................................................ 60 Language policies ............................................................................. 63 Ukraine in the Global Mindset ...................................................................... 67 Discussion .................................................................................................... 69 Conclusion.................................................................................................... 72 Chapter 3. The Local Context ................................................................................... 74 The Reproduction of Social Differences........................................................ 74 L'viv: a.k.a. L'vov, L'wow, Lemburg, Leopolis ............................................. 80 Schooling in L'viv ......................................................................................... 84 The Working Class School: Taras Shevchenko .................................. 89 The Middle Class School: Ivan Franko Secondary School ................. 93 Making Identity with Style............................................................................ 97 Alina's New Haircut .......................................................................... 98 v The Uniform Debate........................................................................ 100 Conclusion.................................................................................................. 106 Chapter 4. The Authentic Village and the Modern City: Local Sites of Meaning Making…………. .................................................................................................. 108 Place and Identity ....................................................................................... 111 Rural-Urban Dichotomy in Western Ukraine ................................... 113 Rural Life ........................................................................................ 115 Media Images of the Rural .............................................................. 118 The Rural at School ......................................................................... 120 Family Experiences of the Rural...................................................... 129 The Wisdom of the Rural ............................................................................ 133 The 19th Century Village in a 21st Century Ukraine ..................................... 138 The Modern and Immoral City .................................................................... 142 Nostalgia as a Response to the Present ........................................................ 146 Discussion .................................................................................................. 149 Conclusion.................................................................................................. 152 Chapter 5. ―It Wouldn't be Ukraine Without Ukrainian‖: Socioeconomic Class and Ideologies of Speaking ........................................................................................... 154 Ideologies about Language Use .................................................................. 155 Ukrainian and Russian..................................................................... 161 National Ideologies ......................................................................... 166 Regionalism and Linguistic Purism ................................................. 168 vi Local Experts' View of ―Correct‖ Speech ................................................... 170 ―Attention! Cultured Speech!‖ on Public Transportation ................. 170 ―Correct‖ Speech at School ............................................................. 177 Teenagers' Ideologies of Speaking Ukrainian .............................................. 184 Self-Reported Speech ...................................................................... 185 Rural and Urban Varieties ............................................................... 187 Slang and Vulgar Speech................................................................. 194 Teenagers' Ideologies of Speaking other Languages .................................... 204 Multilingualism in Ukraine ............................................................. 205 Multilingualism Abroad .................................................................. 214 The Global Linguistic Marketplace ............................................................. 219 Discussion: Youth Identities at School ........................................................ 221 Conclusion.................................................................................................. 225 Chapter 6. Stance-Taking in a Social Minefield: Discourses of Emigration............. 228 From Ukraine to Europe ............................................................................. 231 Comparing Life Abroad with that in Ukraine .............................................. 235 Soviet and Western Normalities ...................................................... 238 Achieving Normality at Home by Moving Abroad?......................... 242 Public Discourses at School ........................................................................ 245 Fancy Footwork on Uneven Ground ........................................................... 250 Friction