Ukraine has a rich linguistic history that intertwines the Russian and Ukrainian languages. However, the Deaf community in Ukraine faces a unique challenge in communication than others, accessibility, and identity. In this post, we’ll focus on how war and occupation affect language diversity and the Deaf experience in the Ukraine.
Languages in the Ukraine
We know that the official language is Ukrainian, with less than half the population using Russian in their private lives. In Ukraine, they use the Pokuttia–Bukovina dialect, which stems from the Romanian language. It also includes information from the only linguistic census ever recorded in 2001, which shows some other languages such as Hungarian, Bulgarian, and others.
So, how does the language of the Deaf community differ?
Sign Language
Ukrainian Sign Language (USL) (Українська жестова мова) is a descendant of Old French Sign Language. It is linguistically independent of the spoken Ukrainian language. It started in the 1800s in Austria at a few Deaf schools that opened up, the most prominent one being Volyn. A smaller school for the Deaf community was established in Odesa, Ukraine, in 1843. However, things changed when the Soviets occupied Ukraine, beginning in 1922.
The Soviet Occupation and Ukrainian Sign Language
Photo by Petkevich Evgeniy:
During the Soviet occupation, the Ukrainian deaf community experienced a slowdown in education. The former premier of the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin, claimed USL as a surrogate language and essentially called Deaf people abnormal human beings. Therefore, the perspective on Deaf people turned negative during much of WW2 until the Cold War.
It was a troubling time for Deaf Ukrainians during the Soviet era. Joseph Stalin committed what many of the third and fourth-generation Deaf people remember as “linguistic genocide.” It was a silence of Ukrainian culture and identity. In Soviet-era schools, the teachers forced them to speak and think in Russian.
The education of Deaf people didn’t resume until 2006. Pre-school and other institutions started opening up, but oral communication remains the norm and is still heavily enforced at school. Later, between 2006-2016, there was more emphasis on USL. The National Academy of Educational Sciences reestablished the Department of Sign Language to improve the experience for Deaf students. Programs became available to Deaf students, but the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 disrupted efforts once again.
Linguistic Diversity from Russia
The invasion of Ukraine sparked an anti-Russian sentiment across the country. It trickled down to the Deaf community. The Ukrainian Society of the Deaf started de-Russianizing USL. Previously, Ukrainians would use the Russian sign to say “Thank you.” After the war started, members worked to change this and implement it into USL, to rid Ukrainian Deaf culture and Sign Language of Russian influence. The organization has over 38,000 members adopting these changes to express their linguistic diversity and do away with Russian culture.
The Awareness of Sign Language in ‘06-’14
The awareness of USL became popularized in 2014. There was a film called The Tribe that was solely in USL. It portrays a boy who goes to a boarding school for Deaf children but goes through brutal bullying antics from his peers. There was a backlash from this film. It had this Lord of the Flies and a mixture of Dead Poets Society, which creeped out audiences.
More importantly, the film was shot entirely in USL without subtitles or dialogue. It sheds light on the alienation of the Deaf community. It seeks to get the hearing community, primarily in the Ukraine, and reflect the feelings of the Deaf community there. It also touches on the cultural identity between the Ukrainians and Russians, who need to emphasize their differences and separation as an individual and cultural identity.
The Impact of War on the Deaf Community
Unfortunately, we cannot talk about the Deaf community in Ukraine unless we examine the effects of war and occupation. The invasion puts Deaf people in a dangerous position. They cannot hear the alarms signaling an air raid. For the hearing community, it is easier to escape and find shelter. Deaf people are left to fend for themselves. There’s very little support from the government for the community, which is the exact opposite of what should happen.
The government, especially in times of crisis, must protect its people, regardless of physical characteristics. The government has live broadcasts with an interpreter alongside President Zelenskyy to deliver the news. However, most of the information relating to the Deaf community is in the hands of NGOs.
The Efforts of NGOs and Their Partners
One American NGO is doing its part as a global citizen to spread goodwill to the Deaf Ukrainians. The Deaf community’s safety is the utmost priority from the horrors of war. The biggest obstacle is ensuring every citizen has updates on what is happening in battle. Off-The-Grid is helping that cause with aid to Deaf communities such as drinking water, cell phone chargers, solar-powered lights, and other resources. They also conduct evacuations in vulnerable areas. The mission has been successful in providing help to these vulnerable communities, from the earthquake in Haiti to the invasion of Ukraine.
Communication, Therapy, and Healthcare
The Ukraine Society of the Deaf is also working on war efforts by spreading information to the community and enhancing healthcare services during such trying times. Interpreters from the society are on the ground and under fire while protecting their community from the atrocities of war. Tetiana Kryvko and her colleagues seek to go beyond the war efforts and improve the Deaf experience in the future. Safeguarding them and giving them access to things like therapy to recover from war trauma to having more of a say in how healthcare operates for Deaf people.
From the Ukraine to Romania and Beyond
Photo by Peter Muscutt
Another effect of war is refugees. 38,000 Deaf people were in Ukraine before the war started and only had text alerts to rely on for bomb warnings. The story of the Sviridenkos is one of how they and a couple hundred other Deaf people managed to escape. Several countries are welcoming Ukrainians to resettle and build a new life. Even though the process is more challenging for the Deaf, it’s still being done thanks to several organizations assisting with the help of volunteers and donors.
The Sviridenkos escaped the traumas of war by car, driving from their city in the Ukraine to a small town in Romania that borders the Ukraine. The Romanian National Association of the Deaf provided the family with shelter and other supplies. Finally, it was time to rest easy for the family and children. However, seeking refugees in other countries comes with cultural and language barriers. That is what the Romanian Deaf Association talks about when communicating with refugees because of the differences between the two sign languages. There can be miscommunication, but they are determined to serve the Deaf community.
24 Hours of Live Interpretation
Another NGO on the ground in Ukraine is the International Rescue Committee (IRC). They partnered with local organizations throughout Eastern Europe, including Poland and Moldova, to support the Deaf community. Migam is one of their biggest partners for communication and keeping up-to-date information on the war for the Deaf community. It is a 24/7 service with over 9,000 interpreters working around the clock for Deaf Ukrainians. Oleksii Zelinskyi, who is Deaf himself, and Roman Zadaniuk are two of the interpreters at the company assisting refugees with healthcare, relocation, and other complex situations that refugees face.
The Future of Deaf Ukrainians
No one is certain about the future of Ukraine in the current climate. The Deaf community is seemingly left behind by the government, besides the NGOs intervening. It’s a challenge to live through times of violence and instability, especially for a community on the margins of society. Between language barriers and navigating a new place, the Ukrainian Deaf refugees show persistence.
And someday, the refugees will return home to embrace their identity as Deaf Ukrainians. We hope to see them free from external powers erasing their unique linguistic identity. After all, their communication is what culturally defines them.
Find out more about linguistic diversity at https://unspokenasl.com/
Photo Credit to: Photo by Alexander Zvir
