Research project Ukrainian Voices in Sweden
Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine has forced millions of people to flee their homes and seek safety in neighboring countries, not least in the Nordic Region. This postdoctoral project investigates the lived experiences of language among those Ukrainians who have fled to Sweden since the outbreak of the full-scale invasion on 24 February 2022.
Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine has forced millions of people to flee their homes and seek safety in neighboring countries, not least in the Nordic Region. This postdoctoral project investigates the lived experiences of language among those Ukrainians who have fled to Sweden since the outbreak of the full-scale invasion on 24 February 2022. Rather than focusing on representations about the Ukrainians fleeing the war in the media, legal texts or other institutionally regulated contexts, this project ethnographically examines the experiences of the newly arrived as constructed through their own voices.
Project description
The first part of this project entails an ethnographic fieldwork and data collection with further deployment of sociolinguistic theories and methods. The second part includes the staging of an artistic exhibition called ‘Countering Voicelessness’ based on the results of the project. In sum, by illuminating the richness of the individuals’ lived experiences of language, this ethnographic project not only informs studies of multilingualism in contexts of displacement and migration from Eastern Europe to Scandinavia, but also seeks to contribute to policy debates with evidence-based knowledge centering on first-hand experiences.
Full project name
Countering Voicelessness: Lived experiences of language among war refugees from Ukraine in Sweden.
Project members
Project managers
Natalia Volvach
Researcher
