Performing Orthography: Humor, Youth Agency, and Language Branding in Ukraine

Summary

This article examines how humor functions as a central semiotic and ideological resource in public debates surrounding the 2019 Ukrainian Orthography. Rather than approaching orthography as a technical or purely normative system, the study conceptualizes it as a social practice embedded in historical, political, and ideological struggles over language, authority, and legitimacy. Drawing on Sebba’s (2009; 2012) sociocultural model of orthography, theories of language ideologies, performance, and humor, the analysis focuses on youth-driven, digitally mediated engagements with orthographic reform across platforms such as TikTok and Facebook.

The study is based on a qualitative analysis of a thematically delimited corpus of humorous social media posts and videos collected during periods of heightened public debate over the reform (2019–2021, with supplementary data from 2024). The analysis identifies three interrelated themes: (1) oppositional humorous contestation of so-called “new-old” forms, primarily articulated by older users in Facebook-based spaces; (2) humorous engagement with feminitives as markers of language modernization and social progress; and (3) the branding of reformed Ukrainian as progressive, contemporary, and socially desirable in youth-oriented digital discourse.

The findings demonstrate a clear generational contrast in how humor is mobilized. While oppositional humor frames orthographic change as excessive, artificial, or imposed, youth-authored humorous performances normalize variation, explain new norms, and recast reintroduced forms as accessible, systematic, and aesthetically appealing. Through humor, young Ukrainians enact agency by negotiating orthographic authority, reconfiguring language ideologies, and engaging in bottom-up language activism. Importantly, humor also functions as a branding mechanism, attaching social value to orthographic competence and positioning “correct” Ukrainian as elegant, fashionable, and culturally desirable.

Overall, the article shows that humor is not peripheral to orthographic debates but constitutes a key site where linguistic authority, legitimacy, and identity are negotiated. Orthographic reform thus emerges not as a static set of rules, but as a dynamic arena in which youth actively participate in reshaping the social meaning and value of Ukrainian in contemporary digital spaces.