By Walter Kish

I had some time over the holidays to reflect on many things personal, cultural and political, and it struck me that being Ukrainian was one of the fundamental things that has defined my identity and determined a lot of what I have done in my life. Yet, I would be hard-pressed to define exactly what being Ukrainian means, and even more so what “Ukraine” as a concept really means.

On a purely semantic level, Ukraine refers to a specific geographic and political entity situated in Eastern Europe. However, on an individual level, Ukraine means different things to different people. To the current inhabitants of the country, Ukraine is where they live, work, strive to make a decent living, raise their kids, and ultimately die. It is a pragmatic reality that surrounds them and defines the parameters of their daily lives. In political and economic terms, Ukraine is an emerging, independent, post-Soviet nation state saddled with a third-world economy, a semi-democratic, semi-corrupt political system and an obsolete physical infrastructure. Life for most of its citizens is a struggle for survival, and being Ukrainian is essentially something to be endured rather than celebrated. The most common dream and hope for many of its more talented and educated residents is to flee to the West and start a new life elsewhere. Being Ukrainian to them is defined primarily in contemporary economic and lifestyle terms

To the Ukrainians who came here to Canada in the early and middle part of the past century, the concept of Ukraine is something quite different. Their being Ukrainian is primarily characterized by a fervent struggle to liberate an oppressed people and nation from the yoke of political and cultural enslavement. Their concept of Ukraine is wrapped in idealism, romanticism and conflict. Their separation from their homeland was mostly an involuntary one, caused by political and economic necessity. Yet, in their “exile”, they maintained a strong umbilical cord to their roots and historical legacy, and devoted their lives and energies towards keeping alive their idealistically driven crusade to see Ukraine liberated. Their Ukraine was less a reality, and more a hope and dream of what Ukraine could and should be. To them, being Ukrainian was and continues to be a matter of politics, idealism and an almost mythological nationalism.

There is also a third perspective on what Ukraine is and that is the one held by most of those of my generation, the Canadian and American born descendants of those original immigrants from Ukraine. To us, being Ukrainian is less of an economic, political or idealistic concept, and more of a cultural, social and historical aspect of our lives and upbringing. Although we have an interest in the fate and future of Ukraine as a nation state, few if any would be motivated to relocate to the land of our ancestors and become Ukrainian citizens. We are Canadians or Americans first, and Ukrainian second. This does not imply that we do not value our heritage or have only a casual interest in the fact that we are Ukrainian. Many of us devote a lot of time and energy towards the Ukrainian community, and in helping preserve and develop Ukrainian organizational and cultural life in Canada and the U.S. We recognize that we are different in terms of outlook, values and priorities from the Ukrainians “over there” and even from the type of Ukrainians that were our immigrant parents. We are what I like to call “Virtual Ukrainians”, people that have no physical or political ties to the land of our forefathers, but are still motivated and driven to preserve the “Ukrainianess” that is within us.

In this I find a useful and valuable purpose and calling. After all, in the long term historical context, political systems change, leaders and movements come and go, borders and boundaries are constantly redrawn, economic theories and structures are developed and discarded with regularity, and the physical landscape is in constant flux. What remains and grows more valuable with the passing of time is the cultural, literary, artistic and spiritual legacy that all those countless generations of Ukrainians have left us. It is in this that I find the real meaning of what it means to be Ukrainian, and which serves as the common thread that ties all Ukrainian together regardless of location or circumstance. It is here that we should focus our efforts and priorities as Ukrainians in the diaspora, and where we will find common ground and purpose, both as individuals and as a community.