Concrete Sunflowers

Tag: language

  • Aliona on language and swearing

    Aliona: [starts speaking Ukrainian] We know, that our reality has a great impact on our language, and language impacts our reality just as much. When the full-scale invasion started, I was in the middle of research, for my dissertation, on invective [swear] lexis in Ukrainian language, in a political discourse. Because of that, certainly, I…

  • Ira from Kyiv: Part 1

    Part 1: Ira from Kyiv: Part 1 Part 2: Ira from Kyiv: Part 2 Ira: So, a superstition which I’m not sure I will be able to translate into English exactly, but I will try. So, it started with the pilots. The pilots never tell something like “my last flight”. Because “last,” [останній, ostaniy] it…

  • Ana on superstitions

    Part 1: Ana on wartime culturePart 2: Ana on superstitionsPart 3: Ana on stamps Ana: I remember you asked about the superstitions, so I tried to think about some of them, but actually I don’t know. Vic: It feels like Ukrainian people have a lot of the same superstitions as British people, like black cats…

  • Ana on wartime culture

    Part 1: Ana on wartime culturePart 2: Ana on superstitionsPart 3: Ana on stamps Ana: Well, again, before, like when it started in 2022, I guess we get more stories like the Ghost of Kyiv or Chornobaivka, if you heard about that. Like it was a village in Kherson which was- the Russian troops, they…

  • Mary on folk heroes

    Vic:  So can you tell me about Pes Patron? Mary: I’ve always loved Pes Patron. When I first came to Lviv in December of 22, there were Pes Patron posters everywhere, and I just thought it was amazing. I have young refugee friends in Berlin. I purchase Pest Patron books for them. I purchased Pes…

  • Valeria on Johnsonuk

    Vic: Can you explain Johnsonuk to me? Valeria: It’s a very funny phenomenon because, well- I don’t know about him much, but I only know that he was in a position of power, some power in the UK. At the time, well, at the start of the full-scale invasion war he was coming to Ukraine…

  • Valeria on folk heroes: part 2

    Series: Valeria’s story Valeria on folk heroes: part 1 Valeria on folk heroes: part 2 Vic: Do you think that language barriers contribute to people’s decisions? Valeria: Yes, because you know, Russian propaganda works really well, and they think that- well, there are indeed some people like this. But in truth, most of Ukrainian speaking…

  • Valeria on folk heroes: part 1

    Series: Valeria’s story Valeria on folk heroes: part 1 Valeria on folk heroes: part 2 Vic: Did you ever see any Ghost of Kyiv mentions on VK? Valeria: No, I don’t think so. I think I just exited it soon enough, you know, just in the first day of war, I was like, “No, I’m…

  • Valeria’s story

    Series: Valeria’s story Valeria on folk heroes: part 1 Valeria on folk heroes: part 2 Vic:  Can you tell me your name first and where you’re from? Valeria: I’m Valeria from Donetsk region, the town of Avdiivka. Vic: And roughly how old are you? Valeria: 20 Vic: And you’re currently living in Lviv? Valeria: Yeah,…

  • Maksym on language

    I: We tried to get some street interviews yesterday. We approached all kinds of people – young, old, men, women. Most of them turned us down. Why is that? Maksym: Eighty percent of the population in Kharkiv right now are displaced people. See them over there with the bags? [Points to a group at a…

  • Eric on basic training

    Part 2: Eric on luck and religion during basic training Eric: It is, you know <laughs> fucking exhausted. Vic: Has the car situation been sorted? Eric: Fuck no. That fucking idiot is like, drunk in Ivano-Frankivsk being a fucking menace to society. I’m like, “hey, asshole, come back with my car please”. Vic: <laughs> So…

  • Chrystyna’s story

    This interview took place whilst volunteering in a kitchen in Kyiv.  Chrystyna [name changed] was born in the USSR in territory which is now Russia.  Her family moved to Ukraine when she was a child, and she is solely a Ukrainian citizen. TW: This story contains references to suicide. Part two: Chrystyna on folk heroes…

  • Mary on Five Huts

    Mary: It was really funny today to see a bus coming from the north, coming down the main street of Sumska [in Kharkiv], and the destination on the bus was Pyatykhatska, which means “five huts”. And that’s a name of a town which obviously started off with just five huts. But it’s a thing with…

  • Brian from New Hampshire

    Brian: When I moved to Kharkiv full time, April 2024, I had brought my Springer Spaniel Annie, with me. We nicknamed her Humanitariannie, and they used to have these little billboards by the sidewalk with Patron photos warning kids about unexploded ordnance and that type of thing. So I got some great photos of my…

  • Sofiya on life in Crimea

    [Sofiya is from Crimea.  Prior to starting the recording, we were discussing the border crossing process]. Sofiya: It depended on the officers at the border.  You would have to show your Ukrainian passport at the Ukrainian border, and then you would have to walk 3km with all your luggage, all the way to the Russian…

  • Dariia from Akimivka (Yakymivka)

    Українською мовою: Дарія з Мелітополя Vic: What part of Ukraine are you from? Dariia: Zaporizhzhia, well, Zaporizhzhia region. Closer to…. Well, not as close to Crimea. Near Azov Sea, to be precise. Melitopol, well, maybe you know? Vic: Okay. So, during that time, I guess you had a bit of an information blackout, like you couldn’t…