Ukrainian Rallies in Paris: Functions and Folklore

Author

Koval-Fuchylo Iryna

a Ph.D. in Philology, a senior research fellow at the Ukrainian and Foreign Folkloristics Department of M. Rylskyi Institite of Art Studies, Folkloristics and Ethnology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (Kyiv, Ukraine).

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4048-9114

Ukrainian Rallies in Paris: Functions and Folklore

Abstract

The results of included observation of the features of street meetings in Paris to support Ukraine are submitted in the article. The research has lasted about four months (November 2022 – February 2023). Pro-Ukrainian rallies have taken place twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. They have the form of a procession: people gather on one of the central squares of Paris and go to another square. On the way they chant anti-war slogans, where they ask to help Ukraine to win victory, and condemn Russian military aggression. Speakers have reports at every rally. The speeches are held in French and Ukrainian. The rallists use posters, banners actively. Short texts are written in French, rarely in English, Ukrainian on them. There are many Ukrainian, as well as French, sometimes Polish, Lithuanian, Georgian and other flags at the rallies. The main purpose of the rallies is to attract attention of Parisians and visitors of the city to the war in Ukraine, to support Ukraine’s struggle for de-occupation, and to make the Ukrainian community in Paris visible. The rally participants use military terminology (front, battalion, counter-propaganda), as well as special chevrons with the inscription Mitynhari (Rallists) for self-presentation of their activity, raising its status. Source material is attached to the study: folklore of the protest (verbal slogans and graphic inscriptions on posters). The deciphered texts of the interviews with the organizers and participants of the rallies are being prepared for publication.

Keywords

rally, Paris, protest folklore, Russian-Ukrainian war, Ukrainian community abroad.

References

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