Sources of Studying Public Opinion in Contemporary Ukraine: the Example of Forming the Image of Lithuania in the Information Space

Abstract

by Elena Lukashuk

The author analyzed the components of the image of Lithuania and Lithuanians in the Ukrainian public opinion in 1989–2014 and established the factors and the ways of its formation. It is alleged that the image of Lithuania in contemporary public space of Ukraine is constructed through the media, science, education, fiction, and personal experiences of people who visited it. The components of this image are: the historical memory of the common past of Ukrainians and Lithuanians in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Lithuania as an example of post-Soviet countries, which implemented European ambitions, the growth of national consciousness and internal consolidation of Lithuanian society, the virtual absence of negative stereotypes about Lithuanians.
The reaction of Ukraine to the aspiration of Lithuanians to leave the Soviet Union, the tragic events of January 1991 in Vilnius, and the “economic blockade” of Lithuania are analyzed. There has been considerable attention to the “Baltic Way” of gaining independence on the part of the Ukrainian public. The public opinion in Ukraine also showed the desire to use the Lithuanian experience in their own European integration projects, particularly in the promotion of the leading European countries, professional advice to achieve the criteria for EU and NATO membership.
The vision of Lithuania as a partner in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, a strategic ally towards secession from the USSR, coordinator of Ukraine’s foreign policy in the post-Soviet reality and European integration activity, is being formed, based on scientific and educational literature in Ukraine. Lithuanian-Ukrainian cooperation is analyzed through the content and features of various agreements, diplomatic activities, joint activities, forms and projects of economic cooperation and cultural ties.
A wide range of ideas and associations about Lithuania and Lithuanians in modern Ukrainian everyday life is reflected. It is based on interviews and surveys of materials of Ukrainians who visited Lithuania. These materials are interpreted by oral methods of historical research. The interviewees which visited Lithuania marked differences between Lithuanians and Ukrainians, in both everyday and public life and analyzed their mentality and customs. In the minds of modern Ukrainians, Lithuania emerges as a country that is able to implement most of the goals set before them and Lithuanians – as people who know how to appreciate their traditions and cultural practices, Lithuanian society is regarded as both conservative and nationally-oriented, with the presence of certain national stereotypes concerning Poles and Russians. Ukrainians who did not visit Lithuania have mostly some general idea about it. The attitude of the Ukrainian survey respondents to Lithuania and its citizens can be described as neutral with a bias regarding the selection of mutually beneficial prospects of Ukrainian-Lithuanian cooperation.