Every time I travel abroad and hear the question ‘Where are you from?’, I’m embarrassed and give an immediate and quick reply: Ukraine.
The unease I experience comes from the fact that there is an eternal conflict between my response and something deeply rooted inside me. I see this as the problem of finding my identity. And while trying to answer it each time, I realise that at the individual level, this issue goes much further.
Lviv: the capital of Galicia and the heart of western Ukraine.
I was born and raised in Galicia, which is a region in Central-Eastern Europe, also known as western Ukraine.
The history of this land is as beautiful and grandiose as are the buildings in Galician cities. From the establishment of monarchy, enjoyment of Magdeburg rights, autonomy within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, creation of Western-Ukrainian People’s Republic during WWI to massive armed and literary uprisings against the Austrian, Polish, Nazi, Soviet and contemporary Ukrainian governments.
Galicians were the first to present a political party to Ukrainians and the last ones to give in to the Soviets. The partisan war against the Soviets led by Galicians continued long after the end of WWII. At the same time, many Galicians chose expatriation in the 19th century because of extreme poverty. Also, a great number of prominent Galician intellectuals collaborated with the Nazi government and expected Hitler to support them in their struggles for the independence of Galicia. But as Hermann Hesse wrote, ‘History is as it has happened. Whether it was good, whether it would have been better not to have happened, whether we will or will not acknowledge that it has had “meaning” — all this is irrelevant.’
Galician history is as it has happened, but what matters is how it has shaped the identity, which comprises of norms, views and narratives, of people living there.
When I moved to Kyiv four years ago, it felt like I was abroad, for people around me were speaking a different language and held completely opposite views on culture, history, and their importance. Many of the words I used and traditions I celebrated were alien to my Kyiv peers. Yet the most striking thing was their negligence in response to my deep sympathy for Galician history and culture. They had been taught a completely different narrative and their views and norms had been shaped accordingly.
Dissimilarity doesn’t mean hostility. It means diversity.
When we as humans experience hardships, and when we cannot find our identity, the state causes enormous harm to its citizens, when there is a misalignment between power and identity. Since the collapse of the USSR, Ukraine hasn’t managed to elect a president and other officials which would have managed to satisfy the needs and expectations of different identities within its territories. Some presidents supported the west of Ukraine, while others backed the worldviews of the other parts.
One of the brightest examples to demonstrate this is the presidency of Victor Yanykovych. He had sympathies for the East but decided to take Ukraine to the European Union, in accordance with the opinion of pro-European Galicia. Later, when he discovered this decision was unpopular among the citizens of other regions, he changed his mind. He chose a pro-Russian path to development. This step is what caused the Maidan Revolution of 2014.
Now that I can say with all my heart and soul that ‘I am from Galicia, not from Ukraine’, I want to stress a short conclusion: it is as important to raise the question of identity in order to reconcile controversies within us as it is crucial to decentralize a country, containing any number of identities over its territory.
7 Comments
Thanks for your article Mariia. I’ve also struggled with my identity. Am I an American national (it is called the United States after all), regional (the South with its checkered past, somewhat like Galicia with a “misalignment between power and identity”), or as I usually answer when I’m often asked in Europe, “Floridian”.
Like you, I’ve always advocated decentralization and I see that becoming more popular around Europe, particularly Belgium, Spain and Italy; but the most important issue, and one that makes decentralization less critical, is limiting government power at all levels.
We all still have a long way to go in that direction, even here in Florida and the USA.
I want to go to Galicia again…it’s a beautiful place and I hope it can break free of its past, and reclaim its independence.
Actually, in the 18C, Galicia was an Austro Hungarian Hellhole.
My grandparents immigrated to Canada in 1902 with Austro Hungarian passports and although they came with nothing and were given land that was totally natural and unable to sustain them fully for years, they felt like they were in heaven.
The Austrians caused 4 famines in Galicia from 1850 on, so I no longer wonder why my grandfather was an orphan. My grandparents were culturally Ukrainian in language/speech, customs and religiously orthodox. They self identified as Ukrainian but also recognized Galicia as the region they came from. They lived a full happy life and left dozens of Canadian citizens who are happy at their decision to leave Ukraine!
correction above
Should be 1800s not 18C
Hi, just came across this post. My great grandparents on my grandmothers side were also from Galicia and came to Canada in 1902, I do know they settled in Manitoba, my grandfathers parents also immigrated from Ukraine, don’t have too much info but my grandparents met and married in Manitoba, moved to Thunder Bay, Ontario and then to Goulais Bay.
Correction above post…
Should be 1800s. not 18C
Actually, in the late1800s, Galicia was an Austro Hungarian Hellhole. (Holly e Holodny). “naked and hungry”
My grandparents immigrated to Canada in 1902 with Austro Hungarian passports and although they came with nothing and were given land that was totally natural and unable to sustain them fully for years, they felt like they were in heaven.
The Austrians caused 4 regional famines in Galicia from 1850 on, so I no longer wonder why my grandfather was an orphan. My grandparents were culturally Ukrainian in language/speech, customs and religiously orthodox. They self identified as Ukrainian but also recognized Galicia as the region they came from. They lived a full happy life and left dozens of Canadian citizens who are happy at their decision to leave Ukraine!
correction for previous post……
Actually, in the late 1800s, Galicia was an Austro Hungarian Hellhole.
My grandparents immigrated to Canada in 1902 with Austro Hungarian passports and although they came with nothing and were given land that was totally natural and unable to sustain them fully for years, they felt like they were in heaven.
The Austrians caused 4 famines in Galicia from 1850 on, so I no longer wonder why my grandfather was an orphan. My grandparents were culturally Ukrainian in language/speech, customs and religiously orthodox. They self identified as Ukrainian but also recognized Galicia as the region they came from. They lived a full happy life and left dozens of Canadian citizens who are happy at their decision to leave Ukraine!