INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION IN THE CONTEXT OF THE UKRAINE CRISIS: SOCIAL REPRESENTATIONS AMONG ETHNIC MINORITIES IN TULCEA

Abstract

This article examines the role of intercultural communication in shaping social representations of the Ukraine crisis among the Russian Lipovan and Ukrainian ethnic communities in Tulcea County, a multicultural border region. Drawing on social representations theory, the study explores how cultural identity, collective memory, shared historical experiences, and everyday communication practices contribute to the interpretation of the crisis and to the redefinition of relationships with the “other”. The research is based on an exploratory qualitative approach, employing semi-structured interviews and focus groups conducted with members and leaders of the two ethnic communities. The analysis highlights that the war in Ukraine has functioned as a symbolic catalyst, intensifying intercultural communication, reactivating latent forms of solidarity, and fostering the construction of social representations grounded in cultural proximity and empathy. The findings indicate that intercultural solidarity has been expressed through concrete practices of support, linguistic mediation, community cooperation, and the valorization of shared memory. Cultural difference is not perceived as a source of threat; rather, it is normalized and integrated into a local framework of multicultural coexistence. Consequently, the Ukraine crisis has not generated identity-based polarization, but has instead strengthened existing interethnic relationships. The article demonstrates that social representations of the Ukraine crisis among the Russian Lipovan and Ukrainian communities are constructed through intercultural communication, memory, and shared local experience, emphasizing the integrative potential of intercultural dialogue in contexts of geopolitical insecurity and forced migration.