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Simone Attilio Bellezza

U OF NAPLES (ITALY)

Simone Attilio Bellezza is Assistant Professor of Modern History at the University of Naples “Federico II.” He specializes in Soviet and Ukrainian history, with a focus on national belonging and its relationship with other kinds of loyalty. He was visiting fellow at HURI (2008 and winter 2019), CAS of Sofia (2014), Columbia University (2016), University of Toronto (2017), and Monash University (2018).

Abstract

“And Here We Fear Not Kings, Not Noble Grand:”

The Formation of a Transnational Diasporic Belonging

in the Ukrainian Emigration

SIMONE BELLEZZA

This paper addresses the question of the formation of a diasporic identity in the Ukrainian emigration throughout the Twentieth century. This paper uses the definition of diaspora recently minted by the studies on Nineteenth century’s nationalisms, according to which diasporas are “viewed as spaces of communication, as ‘contact zones’, as ‘social spaces where cultures meet, clash, and grapple with each other” and not as “emblem of the unity of a dispersed people.” It will show how a specific diasporic identity, equipped with a particular political meaning (and mission), was born out of the encounter of different ways of intending the role of Ukrainians in their new host countries. In the course of the analysis, the evolution of the American, Canadian, and Australian Ukrainian communities is taken into account to show how a common sense of belonging to a diasporic community was made possible by the emergence of multiple and transnational national identities in these countries.

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