aaus-list @ ukrainianstudies.org -- [aaus-list] The bully, the henchman and the bystander in linguicide

[Roman Serbyn <serbyn.roman@videotron.ca>]

In her newest book, A Brief History of Genocide, Barbara Coloroso uses the
image of schoolyard bullying to teach about genocide. Borrowing Ban Olweus
"Schoolyard Bullying Circle" she illustrates the comportment of three
characters:
1) the bully
2) the henchman
3) the bystander

Coloroso applies these notions to genocide. The bully and henchment
(collaborator) categories are more straight forward than the the henchmen.
These can be active supporters, passive supporters, diengaged onlookers,
potential witnesses.

I think this model can be applied to the Ukrainian language. The bullies,
from Peter I, through Catherine II, to the end of the Soviet regime are not
difficult to find. The henchmen are perhaps not as obvious but not much more
difficult to identify. They were/are those who willingly applied the
measures for Russifying the Ukrainian language, both through government
administration and in the academic domain (Institute of Ukrainian Language,
etc). More vague is the third category - the bystanders and onlooker - who
are more difficult to pin down! It is this third category, especially those
of them who are in the academic field, that would make an interesting
subject for discussion, at least I think so.

The underlying question for such discussion would be: "do onlookers to
linguiside or crimes against a language have a moral obligation to actively
oppose them (by analogy to genocide and crimes against humanity), or does
academic integrity require/justify detachment and aloofness?"

Roman Serbyn