by T.S. Taylor, Ph.d

In the politically correct 1990's, Chekov's seeming ethnocentricity is a troublesome aspect of the character for some fans. Many seem to share the following assessment of the character's psychological disposition put forward by Geoffrey Mandel: "[Chekov's] chief psychological weakness is a basic insecurity.... He tends to compensate for this insecurity with flagrant nationalism and takes pride in his Soviet heritage." (Mandel, Officer's Manual, New York: Interstellar Associates, 1980.)

Of course, in real terms, it is important to remember that Star Trek was written during the sometimes quite politically incorrect 1960's. According to the popular legend, Chekov was purposefully included in the cast to reflect Russia's place in the history and future development of space travel. Since at this same time the Soviet Union was considered an unfriendly world power with the capability to launch a nuclear war that could destroy the planet, the plethora of Russian jokes surrounding Star Trek's Russian character may very well have been a reflection of the underlying tension inherent in casting a member of an "enemy" population in a positive light. Much of our humor rises from discomfort.

Also, as David Gerrold points out in his book on the writing of the episode, "The Trouble With Tribbles", being vehemently Russian provided a convenient "hook" for the character:

Every Star Trek character had to have one or two identifying characteristics, a handle with which the writers could approach them. For Mr. Spock, it was his devotion to logic and his pride in his Vulcan ancestry; for Dr. McCoy, it was his down-home approach to medicine... For Mr. Chekov, though, it was the Russian Joke... Whatever you were talking about, the Russians had done it first, and better. Pravda wanted a Russian on the Enterprise? Okay -- but he was going to be fiercely Russian. (Gerrold, The Trouble With Tribbles, New York: Ballantine, 1973, pp.142-142.)

In other words, a quick and easy way for writers of the program to make Chekov sound like Chekov rather than sounding like Spock, Uhura, Sulu or McCoy was to throw in a gratuitous comment about Russia.

If we choose to ignore the practical explanations above in favor of pretending the character is a real person, there may still be a reasonable explanation of the excessive fondness Chekov showed for his motherland in the original series. Researchers in intercultural communications have identified a predictable pattern of transition most people go through when they find themselves placed in a new culture. This pattern is called culture shock. The term refers not only to the transition period but also to the accompanying feelings of stress and anxiety a person experiences during the early period of entering a new culture.

Communications scholar Carley H. Dodd delineates four distinct phases of adjustment:

1. Eager Expectation Stage,
2. Everything is Beautiful Stage,
3. Everything is Awful Stage, and finally
4. Everything is OK stage.

Chekov seems to be displaying the symptoms of being in stage three -- Everything is Awful --during the original series. Typical of this stage is what Dodd calls filtering behavior. Filtering is a process of dealing with the stress of adjustment by denying the reality of the situation. Typical filtering behaviors are denying differences between the host culture and the person's original culture, glorifying the home culture, or going native. Dodd states:

The second way people filter is by glorifying their home culture. For example, a North American from the United States may forget all about the problems back home and remember only the good things. This process is something like the old statement about looking at things through rose-colored glasses. Only in this case, the tinted glasses are framed by a need for security. This distortion of perceptions extends into views toward the host culture. (Dodd, Dynamics of Intercultural Communication, Dubuque: Wm. C. Brown Communications, Inc., 1995, p.215)

When viewed as temporary coping device rather than ethnocentricity, Chekov's nationalism, in my opinion, seems more in line with the other characteristics the character seems to exhibit. Chekov is only recently graduated from the Academy. On the Enterprise, he is living in a constantly changing and many times dangerously insecure environment. It is entirely plausible that this is not always a comfortable situation.

As Mandel postulated, I would agree that Chekov's nationalism does have insecurity at its base. However I would say that this insecurity is a temporary symptom of a person adjusting to strange new environment rather than an inherent personality flaw. In the movies, references by Chekov to things Russian have slowed to a mere trickle. Perhaps this is a sign that the character has successfully adjusted to the stresses of his surroundings. Despite the continuing threat of being phasered, zapped, transmorgraphied, court-martialed, or tortured in the line of duty on the Enterprise, things are finally okay for Mr. Chekov.