Centering the Margins of Ukrainian Language: Changing Perceptions of Surzhyk and Dialects

A lecture by Laada Bilaniuk, HURI Research Fellow at Harvard and Professor of Anthropology at the University of Washington

Moderated by Emily Channell-Justice, Director of the Temerty Contemporary Ukraine Program at HURI

About the Lecture

The massive displacement of Ukrainians in wartime and the growing desire of many to leave their former habitual Russian language behind has led to renewed attention to language purity and regional language differences. In recent years, Ukrainian popular culture has also become more linguistically diverse. Are the different ways of speaking regional dialects, or are they the mixed Ukrainian-Russian language known as “surzhyk”? Laada Bilaniuk will discuss how Ukrainians are engaging with this question, and why it matters.

About the Speaker

Laada Bilaniuk is a Professor of Anthropology at the University of Washington, Seattle. She holds a PhD in Anthropology from the University of Michigan. She is the author of Contested Tongues: Language Politics and Cultural Correction in Ukraine (2005, Cornell University Press), which draws on ethnographic fieldwork and historical sources to untangle the complex sociolinguistic situation in Ukraine. It was awarded the Best Book in Slavic Linguistics Award from AATSEEL. Her forthcoming second book is titled Made in Ukraine: Language and the Politics of Popular Culture. In it, she examines the role of grass-roots activism and popular culture in navigating decolonization, globalization, and Russia’s war on Ukraine. She has also published articles on language ideology, language politics, popular culture, nation-building, and various dimensions of identity, including race, ethnicity, and gender. She is co-editor, with Volodymyr Kulyk, of the recent Ukraine-focused special issue of Sociolinguistic Studies (vol. 19, nos. 3-4, 2025). Her research has been supported by fellowships from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Fulbright-Hays Program, the Social Science Research Council (SSRC), the International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX), and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). She held a Shklar Research Fellowship at HURI in 2001-2002.

This event is organized by HURI as part of the Seminar in Ukrainian Studies public event series and Temerty Contemporary Ukraine Program.

Persons with disabilities who wish to request accommodations or who have questions about access should contact HURI (huri@fas.harvard.edu) at least two weeks in advance of the session.

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