Bukowina jako wielokulturowa przestrzeń - w przeszłości i współcześnie

The Bukovina Region as a Multicultural Space - the Past and Present

Summary: Bukovina is a historical and geographical region situated in the present-day Ukraine and Romania, a part of the historical land of Moldova. "The Switzerland of the East", "Europe in a miniature" - these are some of the popular names of Bukovina, tending to show its special, multicultural image, linked to the ethnic diversity of the area. Assuming that it is a unique culture that best defines a nation it is fair to say that this region constitutes a multicultural space, as this name perfectly corresponds to the very sense of a frontier region like Bukovina. Multiculturalism may be found in a situation of a region being inhabited by different social groups (of different languages, religions, systems of values, etc.) that recognize and accept such differentiations.
The study area was characterized by considerable national diversity as far back as during the Moldovian times. This continued during the Habsburg rule. In 1910, the region was inhabited by the Ukrainians, Romanians, Jews, Germans, Poles, Hungarians, Lipovians (Russians), Czechs, Slovaks, Armenians, Gypsies and others, not listed in the statistics because of their low numbers. A population increase that took place during the Habsburg rule was mostly caused by the Viennese government's colonization policy intended to boost Bukovina's economic development. The region's religious diversity is clearly linked with its ethnic diversity. Bukovina may be regarded as a frontier region where its communities, of various religious denominations, come in contact with each other and where some re ligions may be common for some ethnic groups, whereas for others not. According to the 1910 census, the Orthodox Church had the most of followers, followed by Judaism and the Roman Catholic Church. The numbers of Greek-Catholics, Protestants, the Old Believers and Armenians of both Latin and Eastern rites were much lower. If a distinction were to be made between the Progressive (Haskala followers) and the Orthodox Jews (mostly Hasidic); between the adherents of Calvinism and Lutheranism among the Protestants and between the ‘popists' and ‘non-popists' among the "Old Believers", then the number of confessions present in Bukovina would have been higher than the number of ethnic groups.
Bukovina has a history of conflicts concerning its political status or a domination of certain ethnic groups in the political and economical life of the region. However, these problems have never concealed the land's unique system of values running through all of its communities.
An important aspect of cultural differentiation of present-day Bukovina is the existence of folk-music bands playing music of their ethnic groups, but often borrowing from other communities of the region. The idea of multiculturalism of Bukovina is manifested e.g. by the International Folklore Festival "Bukovina Meetings" which has been organized since 1990.
The multicultural space of Bukovina, as an experiment of cohabitation, was not given the chance of existence in its old form. Perhaps it has been regarded in a far too wide almost mythological dimension remaining a unique example for the contemporary population, also as an effect of decay of its national structure, caused mostly by the two World Wars. This is manifested e.g. by ignoring the aspect of competition or even confrontation between different ethnic societies living in the region.
In the opinion of the author, the current phenomenon of the homo bucovinensis survived the decay of the multinational society of Bukovina. It survived the physical destruction of region's ethnic mix, while the awareness and the system of values of its inhabitants remained alive. What is important to note is that the destruction was caused by a "third party", i.e. by circumstances beyond control of the region's peoples.

Peregrinus Cracoviensis, 2005, z.16, s. 215-234.

Instytut Geografii i Gospodarki Przestrzennej UJ

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