Ukraine War Day #411: Russian “Mova” Out-Mova Mova – Part II

Dear Readers:

Today continuing (and concluding) my review of this piece by reporters Darya Volkova and Evgeny Pozdnyakov. I forgot to mention that the title of the original piece is:

Russia Will Deprive Ukraine Of Its Mova Monopoly

Which suggests a sort of rivalry as to who will control the Ukrainian literary language. Well, he who writes the textbooks will control the minds of the youth, as nobody used to say.

If you can pronounce the name of this bread, then you may have a slice.

Anyhow, we saw that the topic of teaching Ukrainian in Russian schools, either as a second language, or as part of a bilingual education program, aroused a certain debate within the Russian political intelligentsia. And brought up all the old, usual issues: Is Ukrainian even a language? Should it be taught at all? Is teaching it a concession to Ukrainian Nationalists and neo-Naughties? We saw some references to Ukrainian writers and works of literature which prove that the Ukrainian literary language does, in fact, exist; and has existed; and was even honored and respected by Russians, in the past.

In the next part of this post we move on to the Crimean experience. In accordance with the Crimean Constitution, the Ukrainian language is one of three official state languages, along with Russian and Crimean Tatar. In spite of which, only 197 children could be found in the entire peninsula, who are studying Ukrainian. As opposed to 222,000 who study Russian; and 7,300 who are studying Tatar. One can only visualize Diogenes with his lamp, searching for children who want to study Ukrainian; and coughing up only 197 such urchins.

Ukrainian political pundit Vladimir Skachko: “The Crimean variant is ideal. It is an example of total language freedom, the kind that would be unthinkable in Ukraine itself. People must have the freedom of choice: Which languages (aside from Russian) they elect to learn. The more languages [one knows], the better. Secondly, the Ukrainian language, with its song-like qualities and color — is just as much a part of Russian culture as any of the other languages spoken in Russia.”

On a more Realpolitik level, political analysts such as Larisa Shesler believe it would be a cunning idea for the Russian authorities to dispense their brand of mova onto the bordering territories still controlled by the Ukrainian army. Shesler: “Even though citizens of Ukraine communicate amongst themselves in Russian, in their daily lives; yet they get all their official information from mova.” Hence, paradoxical as this may sound to Russian patriots, the Ukrainian language, among Ukrainian citizens, has risen to the level where it is considered more authoritative than Russian. Control the language, and you control the narrative!

Larisa Shesler: “We can use mova to our own advantage.”

In other words, by communicating their ideas in written mova, pro-Russian sources can get their message out to those kinds of readers, who take it more seriously if it’s in the “official” Ukrainian language. Which they have been brainwashed into believing is a superior carrier of thoughts and ideas.

And, on an even more pragmatic level, Russia needs to have cadres of Ukrainian-language specialists, to help regulate the security situation. This according to Alexei Nechaev, a political analyst based in Kiev. Nechaev points out that the problem of Ukrainian Nationalism is not going to go away in any foreseeable future, especially considering how it is propped up by NATO countries. “For example, intel networks need to infiltrate their agents into the various organizations and structures of the enemy. Which means they need specialists who can pronounce the word паляниця without a Ryazan accent, as Stierlitz might do.” [yalensis: Nechaev is alluding to an old joke about Soviet spies. The Ukrainian word паляниця (pal-ya-nets-ya) which is a type of Ukrainian bread, is typically mispronounced by Russian speakers who don’t understand Ukrainian spelling, they will typically pronounce it as “pal-ya-neetsa”, and this is said to be a litmus test of a Russian spy trying to pass himself off as a Ukrainian!]

Nechaev: “When it comes to the military aspect, specialists are also needed, especially for deciphering reports and intercepted radio communications. They are also needed for investigative work. Just try to interrogate a POW captured in Donetsk who is an ethnic Hutsul and hails from the Carpathian region. Lots of luck with that, because even fellow Galicians from Vinnitsya or Zhitomir can’t understand a word they are saying, let alone people from Kiev.”

In conclusion, Nechaev recommends, that Moscow deprive Ukrainian politicians of their monopoly on mova. To which end, Russian specialists must create their own, de-ideologized and adequate version of the Ukrainiain language. But where are such specialists to be found? How are they to learn Ukrainian? “Well, from a textbook, of course. That is where all knowledge begins.” QED.