Unbound: Ukrainian Canadians Writing Home ed. by Lisa Grekul and Lindy Ledohowski (review)

This collection posits the question "[w]hat does it mean to be Ukrainian in contemporary Canada?" This question is deemed necessary given that more than 1 million Canadians now identify themselves as Ukrainian, a result of four distinct waves of Ukrainian migration to Canada over some 120 years. The aim of this project is to hear the "voices that have been raised in the articulation of the many different faces of Ukrainian Canadian-ness." Despite this aim of exploring "Ukrainian-ness" in all of its diversity, the perspectives shown in this volume are limited in several ways.

First, the perspective overwhelmingly favours those who consider themselves "outsiders" – those who have no connection with, or have stood in direct opposition to, the Ukrainian-Canadian community. In the words of one of the editors, "[r]eaders of this book cannot miss the fact that virtually every contributor mentions, in one way or another, her feeling of un-belonging." Not enough voice is given to those who have experienced positive or enriching relationships with the UkrainianCanadian community, which in itself takes many and varied forms. Ukrainian diaspora communities have undergone major changes of late, and today's post-independence, post-Maidan phase of community development is challenging and dynamic. A less reductive, more complex interrogation of the concept of community would have avoided slippage into stereotypes.

Second, the articles offer a gendered perspective through the voice of women writers who negotiate their role within family, particularly in terms of relationships with their mother or grandmother. While undeniably an important perspective, the question of "how 'Ukrainian-ness' in Canada has been constructed" may have been further explored through comparison with, or contrast to, new or reprinted work embodying a male Ukrainian-Canadian voice.

Third, the collection is lacking Ukrainian-born contributors; one cannot help but feel that the editors should have included voices from the most recent wave of Ukrainian immigrants, even if in translation. The objective of understanding "what it means to be Ukrainian in Canada today" needs to canvass the writing of immigrants most recently arrived. Arguably such an objective does not accord with limiting the scope to English language works.

Within these more restricted parameters, the seven articles in this collection are articulate explorations of individual and problematic negotiations of ethnic and cultural identity. Focus is also upon the writing process itself, "the reciprocal relationship between ethnicity and writing," as the contributors explore their reasons for writing and how their writing has developed over time. In this collection, autobiographical and life writing intersect with prose and poetry and critical approaches to create "a postmodern mash-up." This intersection of different genres is intentional and does prove effective. Unfortunately, there are some oversights that could have been avoided with a little more attention to detail. There are errors in the transliteration of Ukrainian words. It is unclear why the bibliography of English language Ukrainian-Canadian literature stops at 2009, without taking the opportunity to include the most recent texts.

The aim of this book appears to have been set too widely since, taken as a whole, the pieces are not representative of "Ukrainian Canada." Nonetheless, this collection provides an interesting body of writing that explores ethnocultural identity in both theoretical and highly personal terms.