111 Cultural Post 5

[Taylor Johnson]

By examining Ukrainian patriotic music, I feel that I have a deeper understanding of how Ukrainians think about their difficult history, and how they make sense of the current state of corruption. Based on the music they produce, there is a significant amount of anger about past oppression and current corruption within their own government. The music also demonstrates an impressive amount of fortitude, as these people have faced trial after trial, but still try to rally together to make changes. The influence of oppression is deep in Ukraine, but somehow Ukrainians have managed to grab onto usable elements of their past (Cossack myths, traditions with vyshyvanka, and the preservation of the Ukrainian language) and use these elements to remind people that, as the national anthem states, Ukraine is not yet dead.