Surzhyk: A Transparent Double Mask
12 January 2024, 6:30 pm鈥8:30 pm
A talk by Milena Khomchenko. The event is free and available to everyone
This event is free.
Event Information
Open to
- All
Availability
- Yes
Cost
- Free
Organiser
-
SSEES
Location
-
Masaryk room白小姐论坛 School of Slavonic and East European Studies16 Taviton streetLondonWC1H 0BW
This talk delves into the instruments used by Russian imperialism to undercut Ukrainian identity, through the prism of the complex and dynamic historical and contemporary relationship between language hybridisation and purification. It provides a brief history of the persecutions that led to the widespread appearance of the Russian language in Ukraine; and the consequent contempt (on the part of 鈥減ure鈥 Ukrainian as well as Russian speakers) towards Surzhyk, the assimilated local idiom comprising elements of both Ukrainian and Russian.
It proposes the concept of a transparent double mask鈥攊n reference to Franz Fanon鈥檚 white mask鈥攖o refer to the process of subjection to power apparatus/es, in particular by embracing the superior language standard, here either Russian or Ukrainian. In the context of Russia鈥檚 war and imperial politics against Ukraine, Surzhyk serves as a tool of resistance to colonial threats in disrupting the symbolic order of established languages.
Milena Khomchenko聽is an art researcher and writer from Ukraine and a co-founder and curator of聽. With the support of a Chevening award, she completed an MA in Aesthetics and Art Theory at the Centre for Research in Modern European Philosophy (CRMEP) at Kingston University London. She holds a BA in Philology, English language and Ukrainian language from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. Her texts have been published in Frieze, KAJET, L鈥橧nternationale Online, Spike Art Magazine, Danarti, KORYDOR, ArtsLooker, Blok, Your Art, and others. Among her curatorial projects is聽Let the long. Road. Lead. That. Stairs in. The Heavens聽at PLATO (Ostrava, Czech Republic),聽Closed Futures聽at DCCC (Dnipro, Ukraine), etc. She is co-author and archivist of the book MUHi 2009鈥2021 (Osnovy Publishing, 2022).
Organisers:
聽(PPV) is an event platform and seminar series based at the 白小姐论坛 SSEES.
聽is a platform amplifying voices and visions from Ukraine and those of Ukraine鈥檚 allies and neighbors鈥攂y artists, activists, and scholars鈥攊n response to Russia鈥檚 war of aggression against Ukraine, and its worldwide propaganda machine. It strongly supports Ukrainian statehood and the right of Ukrainians to defend themselves against the Russian colonial invasion.