International Journal of Philology

Background. National liberation movement in Ukraine in the 1960–1980s became a manifestation of the disagreement and resistance of Ukrainians to the destruction and assimilation of the cultural and spiritual values of their nation. Protest sentiments spread primarily among the Ukrainian creative and scientific intellectuals as well as student youth. They had various embodiments such as written art and journalistic works, letters addressed to authorities, participation in discussions at the meetings and conferences, making and distributing leaflets with the requests to observe public and national rights. The issues raised by the members of the resistance movement included the ones related to the development and protection of the Ukrainian language, concerns about the narrowing of its use and the threat of its complete disappearance due to Russification. Purpose. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the importance of the language issue in the national liberation movement in Ukraine in the 1960–1980s based on the analysis of the documents of the Soviet state security bodies. Methods. The paper uses the method of analytical and synthetic processing of sources, descriptive method and method of contextual analysis. The materials of the collection «Political Protests and Dissent in Ukraine (1960-1980)» were the source for the study. Results. It has been found out that the members of the resistance movement consistently raised the issues of the Ukrainian language, counteraction to Russification and assimilation in their works, speeches, addresses, letters and leaflets. The authors of the works unmasked the antinational chauvinist communist ideology of the Russian colonialists realizing forcible Russification. They denied the statements of the official propaganda about flourishing of national cultures, free development of nations, equality and brotherhood of peoples. They set requirements of a conversion of teaching at educational institutions to Ukrainian, Ukrainianization of industry, agencies, transport, trade network, medical institutions, theaters, radio and television, introduction of the Ukrainian language in the army. Many documents call for Ukrainians to speak their own language, protect it from oppression, and preserve their national identity in front of the onset of Russification. Discussion. Analysis of the documents of the Soviet state security agencies enabled to reveal the large scale of the struggle for the language aimed at preserving the nation and gaining the freedom to Ukraine. It is proved that the issue of the protection of Ukrainian language, defending its rights to free development and application in all spheres of social life became a leading one in the national liberation competitions of the Ukrainian people in the 1960–1980s

Ukrainian language; national liberation movement; Russification; language assimilation; leaflets; national politics