The Ethnology Notebooks. 2026. № 1 (187), 201—212
UDK 281.9 (477.82) “1920/1939”
The date the article was first submitted to the publication 11.01.2026
The date the article was accepted for publication after review 28.01.2026
The date of publication (publication)
NATIONAL RELIGIOUSNESS AND THE LANGUAGE QUESTION: THE TRIAL OF PETRO KOLESNYK IN KOLODENKA (VOLYN, 1933)
KARAGEZOVA Sophia
- ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3049-8850
- Custodian of the 1st category Funds
- of the Sarny Historical and Ethnographic Museum
- of the Sarny City Counci,
- 20, Prosvity Str., Sarny, Ukraine,
- Contacts: e-mail: sophiakaragezova@gmail.com
Abstract. The article is devoted to the trial of Petro Kolesnyk in Rivne in 1933 as a microhistorical example of the struggle of Orthodox Ukrainians of Volhynia for the right to worship in their native language and the manifestation of folk religiosity.
The relevance of the article is due to the insufficient coverage in Ukrainian historiography of local conflicts around the language of Orthodox worship in interwar Poland and the need to understand the historical origins of modern public discussions about the decolonization of the church space.
The purpose of the study is to carry out a comprehensive reconstruction of the trial of Petro Kolesnyk, based on a little-known court pamphlet from 1933, materials from interwar Ukrainian-language periodicals and later narrative sources, as a microhistorical example of the struggle for the introduction of the Ukrainian language into Orthodox worship in Volhynia. Achieving this aim involves clarifying the causes and course of the conflict over the language of worship, the role of the parish community, clergy, Ukrainian political figures and Polish state structures, as well as determining the place of Petro Kolesnyk’s case in the broader context of nation-building processes, the transformation of church policy and the affirmation of Ukrainian identity in the conditions of the Second Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
The object of the study is the trial of Petro Kolesnyk as a manifestation of folk religiosity and linguistic self-affirmation of Ukrainians of Volhynia, the subject is the socio-cultural, discursive and confessional-political aspects of this process and their reflection in contemporary and later journalism.
The source base is a little-known court brochure from 1933, materials from the magazine «Ukrainska Nyva», other interwar Ukrainian-language press, as well as interviews and memoirs of the accused’s daughter.
The research methodology is based on system-historical and micro-historical approaches, combines biographical, discourse-analytical and historical-confessional analysis, content analysis of press publications, comparative-historical and reconstructive methods.
As a result, the context of the functioning of the Polish Orthodox Church in Volyn was traced, the causes of the conflict in the parish of the village of Kolodenka were clarified, the positions of clergy, laity, lawyers and Ukrainian political figures were recreated, and the role of the language of worship as a marker of collective identity was shown.
Keywords: Petro Kolesnyk, Ukrainian language, worship, Volhynia, Orthodox Church, «Ukrainska Nyva», interwar Poland, language policy, church-social conflict, national identity.
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