Oseledets

Oseledets (Ukrainian: оселедець, IPA: [ɔsɛ'lɛdɛt͡sʲ]) or chub (Ukrainian: чуб, IPA: [t͡ɕup]) is a traditional Ukrainian style of haircut that features a long lock of hair left on the otherwise completely shaved head, commonly sprouting from the top or the front of an otherwise closely shaven head. Most commonly it is associated with the Ukrainian cossacks, although first mentions of the haircut go back to Sviatoslav I.

This article is about a traditional haircut. For ethnic slur for Ukrainians, see Khokhol.
1869 illustration of Sviatoslav I, Prince of Kyiv
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A Russian name for oseledets, khokhol, is commonly used as an ethnic slur for Ukrainians.[1][2][3]

History
The Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks to Sultan of Turkey (1880-91). Painted by Ilya Repin.

Halfshaven haircuts have been worn by the inhabitants of Ukraine since the early Middle Ages. The Viking rulers of Kievan Rus imitated the traditional costume and hairstyles of their Slavic subjects.[4] Many of these Russified Vikings joined the Varangian guard of the Roman Empire in Constantinople, and introduced the haircut to their comrades from Denmark. Subsequent generations of Viking colonists spread it to Anglo-Saxon England, and also to France. William the Bastard of Normandy is depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry with a halfshaven haircut, and it is also worn by Uhtred of Bebbanburg in the TV adaptation of Bernard Cornwell's The Last Kingdom.[5][6]

A closely related haircut was worn by the Wends of early medieval Poland, and later by the Polish nobility from the 12th until the 18th century.

During the 16th and 17th century, the Cossacks of Ukraine would shave their heads, leaving a long central strip which was often braided or tied in a topknot.[7]

The Oseledets underwent a revival among romantics and nationalists during the early 20th century. After the Bolshevik revolution and Russian Civil War, however, Ukrainian culture was suppressed as part of Stalin's de-Cossackization because many Cossacks from the Ukraine had fought in the Tsarist White Army.

After independence, the oseledets made a comeback among modern Ukrainians. It was seen during the Euromaidan protests of 2014, and during the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.[8]

Colloquialism

Russians commonly use the word khokhol as an ethnic slur for Ukrainians, as it was a common haircut of Ukrainian Cossacks.[9] The term is frequently derogatory or condescending, an equivalent of the Ukrainian term katsap and Polish kacap for Russians.[10] The word comes from Proto-Slavic xoxolъ < *koxolъ, “crest, tuft.”[11]

Besides calling Ukrainians khokhly, Russians also refer to Ukraine as Khokhlyandiya (Ukrainian: Хохляндія, Хохландія) and Khokhlostan (Ukrainian: Хохлостан). The word "Khokhol" with the meaning of "unconscious Ukrainian" refers to the person who renounced their independence, individuality and allegiance to Russia, and instead began using Turkisms (words derived from Turkic languages) that were incorporated into the Ukrainian language.[12]

Ukrainian culture

The Ukrainian name for this type of haircut is oseledets (Ukrainian: оселедець, literally "herring") or chub (Ukrainian: чуб, meaning "crest"). There are several Ukrainian surnames derived from this word. In the Cossacks times the haircut carried an honorary meaning identifying one as being a true Cossack. That tradition is depicted in various motion pictures such as Propala Hramota that is based on works of Nikolai Gogol. Historically, Ukrainians used the term khokhol amongst themselves as a form of ethnic self-identification, in order to visibly separate themselves from Russians.[13]

The khokhol/oseledets is a standard feature in the stereotypical image of a Ukrainian Cossack.

Bibliography
  1. Хохол // Словник української мови : в 11 т. — К. : Наукова думка, 1970–1980.
  2. ↑ (рос.)Андрей Моченов, Сергей Никулин. «Хохлы», «пиндосы», «чухонцы» и прочие «бусурмане» в Рунете и российской прессе. 28 июня 2006. MCK
  3. ↑ (рос.)Заява національно-культурної автономії українців Новосибірську
  4. ↑ Хахол // Украдене ім'я: Чому русини стали українцями / Є. П. Наконечний; Передмова Я. Дашкевича. — 3-є, доп. і випр. вид. — Львів, 2001. — 400 с. — ISBN 966-02-1895-8.
  5. ↑ (рос.)Етимологічний словник Фасмера стор.796
  6. ↑ Ставицька Леся. Українська лексика в російському та польському жаргонно-сленговому вокабулярі / Александр Бирих (нім. Alexander Bierich) // Субстандартные варианты славянских языков. — Київ : Peter Lang. Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften, 2008. — № 17 (Серпень). — С. 198. — ISSN 0930-7281. — ISBN 978-3-631-57010-4.
  7. ↑ Хохо́л // Етимологічний словник української мови : у 7 т. : т. 6 / редкол.: О. С. Мельничук (гол. ред.) та ін. — К. : Наукова думка, 2012. — Т. 6 : У — Я. — С. 205–206. — ISBN 978-966-00-0197-8.

References
  1. Laitin, David D. (1998). Identity in Formation: The Russian-speaking Populations in the Near Abroad. Cornell University Press. p. 175. ISBN 9780801484957.
  2. "Євген Наконечний. Украдене ім'я. - [22] Хахол". exlibris.org.ua. Retrieved 2022-03-30.
  3. "Стр. 796". vasmer.narod.ru. Retrieved 2022-03-30.
  4. Varangians: In God's Holy Fire, p.172
  5. Bayeux Tapestry online
  6. The Last Kingdom
  7. Thompson, Ewa Majewska (1991). The Search for self-definition in Russian literature. 27. John Benjamins Publishing Company. pp. 22. ISBN 90-272-2213-4.
  8. Foreign policy
  9. "Інститут мовознавства ім. О.О.Потебні | Словник української мови". www.inmo.org.ua. Retrieved 2022-03-30.
  10. Thompson, Ewa M. (1991). The Search for Self-Definition in Russian Literature. John Benjamins Publishing Company. p. 22. ISBN 978-90-272-7759-6. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  11. Mel’nychuk, O. S. (1982–2012). Etymolohichnyĭ slovnyk ukraïnsʼkoï movy [Etymological dictionary of the Ukrainian language]. Vol. 6. Kyiv: Naukova Dumka. pp. 205–6. ISBN 978-966-00-0197-8.
  12. Bierich, Alexander (2009). Varietaeten Im Slavischen- Су стандартные варианты славянских языков: Ausgewaehlte Beitraege - Избранные статьи (in Russian). Peter Lang. ISBN 978-3-631-57010-4.
  13. Plokhy, Serhii (2008). Ukraine and Russia: Representations of the Past. University of Toronto Press. pp. 139–141. ISBN 978-0-8020-9327-1. Retrieved 1 February 2017. Ethnic identity became the basis for differentiating between 'one's own' from 'foreigners.' Alekseev's use of the terms 'Russians' and 'Ukrainians' - terms of modern national identity - was rooted in concepts characteristic of the revolutionary and postrevolutionary era. His own records, as well as those of other contemporary authors, attest that the names most often used by peasants of the prerevolutionary era with reference to ethnic Ukrainians and Russians were khokhly (referring to Cossack topknots) and katsapy (a derogatory term). These terms, which hardly excluded negative connotations, were used to denote the two ethnic groups faute de mieux: as Rubel's own 'History' attests, Ukrainians used khokhol, inter alia, as a self-definition.

See also


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