“Russian Trace” in the Social and Cultural Life of the Bachkan-Sremian Rusyns. Notes on Contacts and Identity

Abstract

Discussions about the number of East Slavic peoples do not stop in the 21st century. In this context, historical and cultural contacts between remote segments of Eastern Slavs, as well as the impact of these relationships on identity, are extremely interesting. The article reviews the contacts between the Rusyns of Bachka and Srem (in Serbia and Croatia) and the Russians in the 18th-21st centuries. The perception of Rusyns of Russians has changed during this period. For a long time, the Rusyns apparently associated themselves with the population of distant Russia. Direct meetings of Rusyns with Russians in the first half of the 20th century shook the “all-Russian” ideas, causing a controversy about the Rusyn identity. After the Second World War, an independent Rusyn national orientation gained strength. Today, among the Rusyns of Bachka and Srem, there are Rusynophiles and Ukrainophiles. Ethno-national Russophilism, as identification with Russians, is practically absent. However, like the Serbs, some Rusyns have pro-Russian political sympathies and an interest in Russian culture.