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CULTURE COLUMN MARTA BOHACHEVSKY CHOMIAK; VP FOR CULTURE Strange and wonderful things happened to me in Ukraine, where I spent the last academic year teaching Ukrainian history to Ukrainians, who are generally ignorant of their past. But stranger things happened to me in our own UNWLA in my absence, and you elected me to the office noted above. I thank you for your sup port and for your continued trust in my work. Whatever I do, I do as a member of UNWLA and would do so even if I had no title to append to my name in this context. I appreciate the honor, but as usual, am a bit wary about it. An office for culture is a bit too close to a policy of culture, or of someone’s definition of this elusive term. I have no intention of defining the term; a broad approach will suit me fine. As to the office, my main duty is to serve as a resource person for you. I also have to make certain that we organize the Kovaliv prize selec tion and ceremony. So — here is my first request to all of you. The Kovaliv prize is awarded in alternate years to the best work on a Ukrainian topic, but not necessarily written in Ukrainian, in literature and scholarship. The winners are chosen by a specially convened jury, but I would appreciate suggestions from our members. In the circular letter sent to our branches, I encourage you to become active in the PTA and in local library programs, to include materials dealing with Ukrainian-Americans and with Ukraine. I also suggest a renewed thrust for the collection of oral history material, as well as for items, that may be of use to the Ukrainian Museum in New York. I am writing and speaking broadly about my fasci nating year in Ukraine, and I suppose I will continue bringing in some of my experiences for a long time. Cul ture means many different things in Ukraine and in the United States. We generally mean both aesthetic works, and the manner in which societies structure their lives. In Ukraine, culture refers generally to the higher spheres of existence, and only anthropologists use the term in the American meaning of the type of life developed by a given peoples. Bi-cultured Ukrainians often refer to well-mannered, and that is a commodity that is often in short supply. An etiquette book in Ukrainian would be useful. This is a serious matter, since social mobility is not a genuine possibility, if there is no reference to which to go to find out: when to wear a tuxedo, howto thank Aunt Tekla for sending ten packets of seeds, and how to address the new Ambassador. Both Ukrainians and those of us with interest in things Ukrainian need to approach ourselves and our interests within a context broader than ourselves. That means looking at culture not as a Ukrainian but as a consumer, creator, and disseminator of the varied wealth of human endeavor. Only within that context will the culture of Ukraine make sense. Ukrainians have been cut off very frequently from the rest of the world. We can help them most, even as we help ourselves by being a bridge to modernity, a means to broadening the avenues of knowledge and art and literature. We need to see Ukraine within a non-ethnic context, and we can help Ukrainians accept themselves as Ukrainians who are citizens of the world and not merely victims of his tory and geography. I think it is equally imperative that we realize fully our own American heritage and our American selves. Yes, American, because one of the great achievements of the society of the United States of America has been to fashion a community of individuals, none of whom just has one exclusive identity. We function within communities of permeable boundaries, where even the tensions among them serve to strengthen our self-under standing, and hence our dependence upon each other. We must participate fully in the social and political life of our communities, for USA itself would be the poorer without our participation. By being active and produc tive Americans we can serve as the best model for the Eastern Europeans, including Ukrainians who are trying to fashion democratic, independent and tolerant states. What better wishes for this extended Holiday Sea son: Thanksgiving, Christmas, Epiphany, the celebra tion of the Independence of Ukraine on January 22 (for 1917 & 1918, as well as for the 1990 Human Chain), and of the Presidents’ of the USA. Suggestions for reading: Conditions in Ukraine change very rapidly, and it is important to be able to keep up with some of them. Among the better and readable works on contemporary Ukraine, I would like to suggest you acquire, for your selves and for your local libraries: Solomea Pavlychko, Letters from Kiev, (originally St. Martins Press, 1992; second edition: Canadian Insti tute of Ukrainian Studies, 352 Athabasca Hall, Univer sity of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2E8) and Alexander Motyl, Dilemmas of Independence: Ukraine After Totalitarianism, New York: Council on Foreign Relations Press, 1993. 18 "НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, ЛЮТИЙ 1994 Видання C оюзу Українок A мерики - перевидано в електронному форматі в 2012 році . A рхів C У A - Ню Йорк , Н . Й . C Ш A.
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