The Image of “Other” as Viewed by a Rusin Woman: Interethnic Issues in Olha Kobylianska’s Ego-Documents

The study of interethnic relations through the prism of ego-documents provides an opportunity to identify dominant ethnic stereotypes and restore the authentic image of the “Other”. The relevance of this approach to the history of Rusins derives from the ethno-confessional diversity of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The source base of the research engages the diaries of an aspiring writer Olha Kobylianska. In Câmpulung, Bukovina, Rusins contacted with Jews, Germans, Poles, and Romanians in their everyday life, with Jews being most frequently mentioned nation in Olha’s writings. The stereotypical image of the Jew implies their de-individualization, expressed by means of the semantics of collectiveness, emphasizing the ultimate isolation of the nation. The fact that she was in love with a Jew and hoped to marry him did not preclude the condemnatory connotations in the Jewish discourse. Germans in her diaries are young men, whose attractive appearance emphasizes their professionalism, cultural sensitivity, good education, intelligence, and morality. Kobylianska thought the “Other” from Germany to be able to outshine everyone around him. The Poles are represented by the Serbinkys Catholic family, whose neighbourship with the Kobylianska’s family determined the homelike relationship and positive tone. The Catholic priest and officer, who epitomize the nation in the diaries, are endowed with natural beauty, classical proportions, culturalness, and good manners. Emotionally, the girl’s ego-narrative demonstrates a negative attitude towards Romanians, whose indecent behaviour is interpreted by Kobylianska as humiliation based on ethnicity.