for discussion

[Natalia Pylypiuk]

Colleagues,

Ms Iryna Farion, the culprit behind the Misha / Mykhailyk scandal and  
her right-wing political party have been  duly criticized in numerous  
venues by fellow Ukrainian-speaking citizens.  Here is just a small  
sampling of their reactions:

Oleksij Skrypnyk (09-III-10):
   http://www.pravda.com.ua/columns/2010/03/9/4844536/
Jurij Svirko, Editor of Obzor (27-02-2010)
    http://blogs.pravda.com.ua/authors/svirko/4b896c9f1112e/
Stepan Khmara (Ukrainian People's Party) (23-II10)
    http://vgolos.com.ua/politic/news/35864.html
Nadia Oksenchuk (Head of the Lviv City Council Division of Education)
   (28-II-2010)
    http://maidan.org.ua/static/news/2010/1267377066.html
    (22-10-2010)
    http://galinfo.com.ua/news/63864.html

For my part, let me add that when I immigrated to Chicago, high school  
teachers anglicized my name, by addressing me as Natalie, even though  
all my documents identified me as Natalia.  Today only the occasional  
(anglophone or francophone) secretary and shopkeeper will attempt to  
rename me.  However, at American and Canadian Universities I still  
encounter Russian colleagues who insist on calling me Natasha, despite  
my protestations.  Similarly, my colleagues Bohdan and Oleh also get  
renamed as Bogdan and Oleg.

In all fairness to the misguided right-wing lawmaker, it should be  
noted that per each Farion in Lviv Oblast, there are at least ten  
russophone counterparts in Donetsk, Luhansk or Kharkiv who will impose  
their will and transform a Marijka, Meshko / Mykhas', Darusia,  
Natalochka, etc. into a Masha, Misha, Dasha, Natasha, etc.  However,  
such stories do not make it to the newspaper.  They are far too  
common...

Natalia Pylypiuk, University of Alberta
[www.arts.ualberta.ca/~ukraina/]


On 9-Mar-10, at 1:51 AM, Josh Wilson wrote:

> [...] No - if Misha lived in England or France or America or  
> anywhere else, his
> name would still be Misha, if that is how he chose to introduce  
> himself.
>
>
> Josh Wilson
> Assistant Director
> The School of Russian and Asian Studies

-----Original Message-----
From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list
[mailto:SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu] On Behalf Of Robert Orr
Sent: Monday, March 08, 2010 5:36 PM
To: SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu
Subject: [SEELANGS] for discussion

http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/61055/

Lviv lawmaker touches off latest Ukraine-Russia row over whether Michael
should be called Misha or Mykhailyk [...]
This recipe was invented recently by Iryna Farion, a Lviv Oblast  
lawmaker
from the right-wing Svoboda Party, and made international headlines,  
causing
a firestorm in Russia.

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