Coming to Terms With ‘Odessa Ukraine’: The Impact of the Maidan Uprising on the Ukrainian Diaspora

This article describes the evolution of distinctive predominant identity narratives within Ukrainian diasporas in Western Europe and Northern America. It presents an overview of the different diasporic waves since the early 20th century and their specific manifestations of national identities. The analysis highlights how the identity construction of diasporas is heavily linked to transnational social interaction. The example of the Ukrainian-Canadian Diaspora demonstrates the potential cleavages diasporas face when they are insulated from cultural shifts in their country of origin. The entanglement of identity, (West-)Ukrainian language and culture made it difficult for the diaspora to accept the more recent russophone foundation of aspects of Ukrainian identity. However, the active support of the Euromaidan protests accelerated a cultural and political process of realignments within the global Ukrainian diaspora—showing how transnational interaction can reframe cultural identity.