Kazimiera
07-19-2014, 02:43 PM
Rediscovery of the Rusyn culture and language in Slovakia
http://one-europe.info/user/files/Natalia%20Ghincul/Rusyn-Schools-10yrs-3.jpg
Rusyns in Slovakia could achieve a revival after the fall of Communism with the rediscovery of the Rusyn culture and language. On the other hand, Rusyns in Ukraine are still struggling to be fully recognized.
In the Prešov Region of the North-Eastern Slovakia we can see many villages with specific wooden churches and guide signs written in Cyrillic alphabet along with Slovakian one. Some churches are even considered open air folk museums “skanzens”, like for example those in Stara Lubovňa, Svidnik, and Humenne. Such place names like “Russian pass” or “Russian stream” can suggest the idea that we have a chance to discover Russian settlements in the Eastern part of Slovakia, along the northern and southern slopes of the Carpathian Mountains. But we should not hurry to conclude this fact, as this territory is inhabited by Carpatho-Rusyns. They are also called Rusyns (Rusíni in Slovakian language) who are one of the ethnic groups in Slovakia with rich and tangled history. Rusyns refers to eastern Slavs that were connected during the medieval period with the Kievan Rus as opposed to Slovakians who are western Slavs. Although, they speak a language that is close to Ukrainian, it was heavily influenced by Polish, Slovak and Hungarian languages. Also, it is a mistake to consider them only Orthodox believers. According to Dr. Magocsi from the Toronto University, among Carpatho-Rusyns worldwide, today there is an equal number of Greek Catholic and Orthodox adherents in general.
However, since the early Middle Ages, Carpatho-Rusyns did not obtain political independence, they were recognized as a distinct group within the multinational Hungarian and Polish kingdoms and later within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The 19th century was a period of a great significance in the history of Rusyns, when the idea of nationalism was spread on the European continent. The Rusyn national revival of that time was realized due to Aleksander Dukhnovych, who acted as a defender of the Ruthenian culture against Magyarization (Hungarisation). In the 1850s he was the founder of the first Rusyn cultural association in Prešov. Dukhnovych also published the first literary almanacs and elementary schoolbooks, furthermore, he is also the author of the Rusyn national credo: Ia rusyn byl, ies'm i budu (I Was, Am, and Will Be a Ruthenian).
It is also difficult to mark certain geographical location of Rusyns, however most of them live at the crossroads between Slovakia (Presov Region), Poland (Lower Beskids) and Ukraine (Zakarpattia Oblast), they also populate Hungary, the Czech Republic, Serbia and Croatia where they are recognized as an ethnic minority. We can also find some Carpatho-Rusyn villages in the Maramures (northern region of Romania) and large communities of Rusyns in United States, Canada and Argentina, where they immigrated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Some Rusyn Americans are even famous worldwide, for example the artist Andy Warhol whose parents belongs to the Rusyns ethnic group.
According to the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic in 2011 Rusyns counted 33,482 people in Slovakia, but the overall number of Rusyns in the world could not be found out exactly as in some countries they haven’t officially identified themselves ethnically as Rusyns. In 1989, Rusyns communities in Slovakia benefited from the fall of Communism as they could gain full constitutional rights as a national minority within Czechoslovakia and then within Slovakia after the breakup of the Czecho-Slovak federation. In 1995, Rusyn was recognized as a minority language in Slovakia and this fact created the opportunity for the official publication of magazines, newspapers, books in Rusyn language, but not in a dialect. The social-cultural weekly for Rusyns in Slovakia Narodnŷ novynkŷ was first published on August 21st, 1991 and it is still attracting the interest of Rusyn readers in Slovakia, contributing as well to their national awareness. During the 15th anniversary of the newspaper many, Rusyns in Slovakia were grateful to the mission launched by Narodnŷ novynkŷ that consisted in enriching the national-educational field of the Rusyn nation. The Rusyn language teacher at the Primary School in Radvan nad Laborcom Marek Gaj thanked the newspaper adding that “through you I could find out who I am”. The Alexander Duchnovič Theatre is also located in Prešov; it is a national theatre in Slovakia with performances in the Ruthenian language. More Slovak folklore groups try to perform Rusyn songs and dances, besides from the famous Rusyn singers as Anna Poráčová and Hanka Servická.
If we compare the Rusyns in Ukraine with those in Slovakia, we see that the former face serious difficulties owing to the Ukrainian government's refusal to list Rusyn as an ethnic identity. Zakarpattia Oblast, the most western region of Ukraine, was established on 22 January 1946 as a part of Ukrainian Soviet Socialistic Republic, but before it was the Czechoslovakia’s territory which was ceded due to a treaty between Czechoslovakia and USSR. In 1946 Rusyns in Zakarpattia Oblast numbered 800 thousands and in 2001according to Ukrainian Census only 183 people identified themselves as Rusyns. The main reason why this mysterious disappearance of Rusyns happened in the historical region of Carpathian Ruthenia is simple. The Ukrainian government continued the Soviet tradition that did not recognize the Rusyns living in that country as a distinct nationality but rather as an ethnic sub-group of Ukrainians. This is why many Carpatho-Rusyns were included in the Ukrainian nation that made the majority 80.5% of people in Zakarpattia Oblast. Only in 2007 the Zakarpattia Regional Council officially recognized Rusyns as a separate ethnicity in Ukraine, and then in 2012 Rusyn obtained the official region language status in certain areas of the province (oblast). In 2012 the Orthodox priest Dmitri Sidor was convicted for developing separatist Rusyns’ movement in Zakarpattia Oblast when he acted as a spiritual leader for the creation of the Rusyn autonomy. During the Second World Rusyn Congress in 2008 he declared: “We are not separatists, we are trying to achieve the status of a republic within Ukraine, it is our duty to our ancestors”.
It is obviously very difficult to predict the future of Rusyns in Ukraine as the country is burdened now by the civil war in Ukraine's eastern region. Nevertheless, Rusyns in Slovakia were able to achieve a revival after the fall of Communism with the rediscovery of the Rusyn culture and language. The same future can be expected for the Rusyns in Ukraine if the new regime of the Ukrainian government tries to address the sensitive issue of minority protection in Ukraine.
Source: http://one-europe.info/rediscovery-of-the-rusyn-culture-and-language-in-slovakia
http://one-europe.info/user/files/Natalia%20Ghincul/Rusyn-Schools-10yrs-3.jpg
Rusyns in Slovakia could achieve a revival after the fall of Communism with the rediscovery of the Rusyn culture and language. On the other hand, Rusyns in Ukraine are still struggling to be fully recognized.
In the Prešov Region of the North-Eastern Slovakia we can see many villages with specific wooden churches and guide signs written in Cyrillic alphabet along with Slovakian one. Some churches are even considered open air folk museums “skanzens”, like for example those in Stara Lubovňa, Svidnik, and Humenne. Such place names like “Russian pass” or “Russian stream” can suggest the idea that we have a chance to discover Russian settlements in the Eastern part of Slovakia, along the northern and southern slopes of the Carpathian Mountains. But we should not hurry to conclude this fact, as this territory is inhabited by Carpatho-Rusyns. They are also called Rusyns (Rusíni in Slovakian language) who are one of the ethnic groups in Slovakia with rich and tangled history. Rusyns refers to eastern Slavs that were connected during the medieval period with the Kievan Rus as opposed to Slovakians who are western Slavs. Although, they speak a language that is close to Ukrainian, it was heavily influenced by Polish, Slovak and Hungarian languages. Also, it is a mistake to consider them only Orthodox believers. According to Dr. Magocsi from the Toronto University, among Carpatho-Rusyns worldwide, today there is an equal number of Greek Catholic and Orthodox adherents in general.
However, since the early Middle Ages, Carpatho-Rusyns did not obtain political independence, they were recognized as a distinct group within the multinational Hungarian and Polish kingdoms and later within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The 19th century was a period of a great significance in the history of Rusyns, when the idea of nationalism was spread on the European continent. The Rusyn national revival of that time was realized due to Aleksander Dukhnovych, who acted as a defender of the Ruthenian culture against Magyarization (Hungarisation). In the 1850s he was the founder of the first Rusyn cultural association in Prešov. Dukhnovych also published the first literary almanacs and elementary schoolbooks, furthermore, he is also the author of the Rusyn national credo: Ia rusyn byl, ies'm i budu (I Was, Am, and Will Be a Ruthenian).
It is also difficult to mark certain geographical location of Rusyns, however most of them live at the crossroads between Slovakia (Presov Region), Poland (Lower Beskids) and Ukraine (Zakarpattia Oblast), they also populate Hungary, the Czech Republic, Serbia and Croatia where they are recognized as an ethnic minority. We can also find some Carpatho-Rusyn villages in the Maramures (northern region of Romania) and large communities of Rusyns in United States, Canada and Argentina, where they immigrated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Some Rusyn Americans are even famous worldwide, for example the artist Andy Warhol whose parents belongs to the Rusyns ethnic group.
According to the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic in 2011 Rusyns counted 33,482 people in Slovakia, but the overall number of Rusyns in the world could not be found out exactly as in some countries they haven’t officially identified themselves ethnically as Rusyns. In 1989, Rusyns communities in Slovakia benefited from the fall of Communism as they could gain full constitutional rights as a national minority within Czechoslovakia and then within Slovakia after the breakup of the Czecho-Slovak federation. In 1995, Rusyn was recognized as a minority language in Slovakia and this fact created the opportunity for the official publication of magazines, newspapers, books in Rusyn language, but not in a dialect. The social-cultural weekly for Rusyns in Slovakia Narodnŷ novynkŷ was first published on August 21st, 1991 and it is still attracting the interest of Rusyn readers in Slovakia, contributing as well to their national awareness. During the 15th anniversary of the newspaper many, Rusyns in Slovakia were grateful to the mission launched by Narodnŷ novynkŷ that consisted in enriching the national-educational field of the Rusyn nation. The Rusyn language teacher at the Primary School in Radvan nad Laborcom Marek Gaj thanked the newspaper adding that “through you I could find out who I am”. The Alexander Duchnovič Theatre is also located in Prešov; it is a national theatre in Slovakia with performances in the Ruthenian language. More Slovak folklore groups try to perform Rusyn songs and dances, besides from the famous Rusyn singers as Anna Poráčová and Hanka Servická.
If we compare the Rusyns in Ukraine with those in Slovakia, we see that the former face serious difficulties owing to the Ukrainian government's refusal to list Rusyn as an ethnic identity. Zakarpattia Oblast, the most western region of Ukraine, was established on 22 January 1946 as a part of Ukrainian Soviet Socialistic Republic, but before it was the Czechoslovakia’s territory which was ceded due to a treaty between Czechoslovakia and USSR. In 1946 Rusyns in Zakarpattia Oblast numbered 800 thousands and in 2001according to Ukrainian Census only 183 people identified themselves as Rusyns. The main reason why this mysterious disappearance of Rusyns happened in the historical region of Carpathian Ruthenia is simple. The Ukrainian government continued the Soviet tradition that did not recognize the Rusyns living in that country as a distinct nationality but rather as an ethnic sub-group of Ukrainians. This is why many Carpatho-Rusyns were included in the Ukrainian nation that made the majority 80.5% of people in Zakarpattia Oblast. Only in 2007 the Zakarpattia Regional Council officially recognized Rusyns as a separate ethnicity in Ukraine, and then in 2012 Rusyn obtained the official region language status in certain areas of the province (oblast). In 2012 the Orthodox priest Dmitri Sidor was convicted for developing separatist Rusyns’ movement in Zakarpattia Oblast when he acted as a spiritual leader for the creation of the Rusyn autonomy. During the Second World Rusyn Congress in 2008 he declared: “We are not separatists, we are trying to achieve the status of a republic within Ukraine, it is our duty to our ancestors”.
It is obviously very difficult to predict the future of Rusyns in Ukraine as the country is burdened now by the civil war in Ukraine's eastern region. Nevertheless, Rusyns in Slovakia were able to achieve a revival after the fall of Communism with the rediscovery of the Rusyn culture and language. The same future can be expected for the Rusyns in Ukraine if the new regime of the Ukrainian government tries to address the sensitive issue of minority protection in Ukraine.
Source: http://one-europe.info/rediscovery-of-the-rusyn-culture-and-language-in-slovakia