| Popis: |
Ukraine's frontline position between the West and the East influenced nation–building. The modern civil nation in the country is formed on the basis of Ukrainians, who are an ethnic majority, although there are minorities. The task of the study is to consider this basis for the formation of the nation and the circumstances of its formation. Themethodology is the concepts of nation–building, which combines moderate primordialism and constructivism, and frontier theory. Results. Ukrainians are a nation with an ancient agricultural culture, which determined the specifics of life, holidays and ceremonies, oral art, worldview of the people. In the twentieth century, as a result of the modernization of society and negative Soviet practices, many ancient elements of culture are a thing of the past. But a number of traditions have retained functionality (in construction, agriculture, clothing, food), and some have become national symbols (embroidery, jewelry, traditional cuisine, kobza culture, etc.). The Cossacks greatly influenced the formation of the Ukrainian nation. Cossacks – originally a frontline society, during the Cossack Revolution in the middle of the XVII century won the position of social elite in the newly created state of the Zaporozhian Cossack Army (autonomy within the Russian Empire). The heroics of the Cossack struggle formed the basis of Ukrainian identity, and the Cossack subculture became dominant. The ethnonym «Ukrainians» is the name of the population of the Cossack region, whose dialect formed the basis of the Ukrainian literary language. With the decline of ancient Russia, Ukraine was part of several states and was united in the middle of the twentieth century as part of the USSR. Only since 1991 has a modern state project been implemented in Ukraine. Nation–building began in the nineteenth century and came to an end with independence. The brake factors were the colonial legacy and the influence of the former metropolis. Being on the border between East and West, Ukraine made the final choice in favor of the latter during the revolutions of 2004 and 2014 and the large–scale Russian–Ukrainian war. Ethnic minorities rallied around Ukrainians, which was facilitated by the legal consolidation of European rights and freedoms, as well as religious tolerance. During the Revolution of Dignity in 2014, all denominations, except the UOC–MP, supported the idea of Ukraine's independence. The Ukrainian language is recognized by the only state majority of the country's population, which is an additional factor in uniting the Ukrainian nation in the conditions of Russia's political leadership's inclusion of all Russian–speakers in the «Russian world». |
