The history of Ukrainian swear words in the series from FILM.UA Group
FILM.UA Group presented a pilot series of the upcoming cycle “WHOSE D*CK?” on the history of the emergence of Ukrainian swear words. From May 9, the first episode of the project can be watched at the national online cinema SWEET.TV. The video will appear without any censorship – for the first time in the history of Ukrainian platforms. The teaser can already be viewed on YouTube (beware, strong language).
Filming of the series began before the war. “WHOSE D*CK?” was planned as an educational project that explores the taboo side of the cultural heritage of Ukrainians and refutes the misconception that the non-normative lexicon has no Ukrainian roots.
But now the project has become even more relevant. At the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, the phrase about the “Russian warship” became the slogan of the struggle for freedom. Swear words have been given new functions: now it is not only a taboo means of expressing emotions, but also a form of protest, a powerful weapon in the information war against the occupiers.
The author of the idea, creator and director of the documentary series Dmitry Kuevda notes:
“The topic of Ukrainian swear words in our culture has always been relevant. However, few outside the institutes have researched and talked about it. We decided to fix it. And now, with the start of the war, when the whole country is sending the Russian warship to go f*ck itself, the project “WHOSE D*CK?” acquired new meanings. Because we have to not only point in the right direction, but also prove that every word in our language is really ours, not a legacy of the “older brother”.
Each episode of the project will cover one of the five most popular swear words and non-trivial uses. The series will tell about the origin and evolution of swear words from the times of Kyivan Rus to the present, regional differences, how it differs from “Russian mat”, how different professions swear, cult strong language quotes and swear words as a way of protest.
The first issue is about the emergence of swear words, its use by historical figures (for example, Yaroslav the Wise), the ban by the church, censorship in the media and the story of Grandpa Panas. Especially for the project in the Troieshchyna region in Kyiv, a mural was created with the image of Petero Yukhimovich Vesklyarov and the legendary phrase attributed to him “And that was bullsh*t, babies.” The cult figure of children’s content of the late 80’s, Grandpa Panas, became a kind of folk hero, although there is no direct evidence of his cursing in the live broadcast of “Evening Tale”. However, this phrase became one of the first all-Ukrainian memes, still popular today.
The project leader is Irena Karpa, writer, singer, journalist, TV presenter, and First Secretary for Culture of the Ukrainian Embassy in France. Consultant and speaker – famous philologist Ostap Ukrainets.