"We Are Now an Actual Nation": The Impact of National Independence on the Croatian Diaspora in Canada

Diaspora 4:1 1995 "We Are Now an Actual Nation": The Impact of National Independence on the Croatian Diaspora in Canada Daphne N. Winland York University 1. Introduction The political scientist Walker Connor identifies two factors that help him distinguish between "immigrant communities" and "diasporas ": 1) the degree of loyalty felt toward the adopted host nation as opposed to the ancestral homeland and 2) the extent of assimilation ("Ethnonationalism" 80). The comparative framework Connor developed to clarify the terminological confusion resulting from scholarly attempts to theorize the relationship between ethnicity, nation, and state has had only limited success, because the assumptions that inform his definitions of immigrant communities and diasporas reproduce a functionalist teleology of "movement from one form of integrity to another" (Rouse 10), mediated by notions of adaptation and accommodation. Although his seminal earlier work challenged the "tendency to equate nationalism with a feeling ofloyalty to the state rather than with loyalty to the nation" ("A Nation" 378) and drew our attention to the centrality of (ethnic) selfconsciousness in nationalism, Connor has not fully investigated the important question of how self-consciousness is obtained and transformed and how it manifests itself in situations of change. The integral relationship between self-consciousness and loyalty necessitates an investigation of those societal contexts and processes that influence group loyalties. These considerations are particularly significant for the analysis of diasporan identities for which issues of self-representation, the practices and processes associated with transnationalism, and, in the case ofCroatians in Canada presented here, the impact of national independence on identity claims, are central.1 Rather than instilling a sense of unity, Croatian independence has either created or reinforced the contestations over notions of Croatian peoplehood. Croatians in Canada, who have historically kept a low profile, have recently begun to assert their ethnic pride primarily by identifying with the political cause of their kin in the former Yugoslavia. Regardless of their specific relationship to the mother country, they now speak oftheir transformation as a people from what they repre- Diaspora 4:1 1995 sent as a historically repressed minority group in the former Yugoslavia to a proud, new nation that has successfully shrugged off the yoke of communist rule and asserted a new sense of purpose and pride. Narratives of renewal replace those of displacement and oppression . Such revitalization and reinvention of Croatian diasporic discourses, and the intensification of transnational links as a consequence of Croatian independence, have coincided with a movement to reclaim and redefine Croatian origins and affiliations. In contrast to its history offragmentation and discord, stemming from such differences as political viewpoints, economic status, generation , and time ofarrival in Canada, this diaspora has been galvanized by the issue of Croatian independence in unprecedented fashion . For example, the community has tirelessly mobilized support for Croatian relief through fund-raising and volunteering of services , such as sending student brigades to rebuild war-torn areas and to serve in the military.2 However, despite outward displays of unity and a reinvigorated sense of Croatian identity, these changes have exposed cracks beneath the surface ofrenewed community vitality and confidence. The nature of these differences, played out along the lines of generation, region of origin, date of immigration to Canada, class and ideology, demonstrate the degree to which identities continue to be negotiated. Since independence, efforts by Croatian-Canadian elites to create and convert particular discourses and images of "Croatianness" into constructs emblematic of Croatian nationhood continually encounter obstacles from within the community. The question then is: which aspects of the Croatian past and present are being explored, revised, and suppressed, by whom, in what contexts, and to what effect? These issues, particularly the impact ofindependence on diasporan identity and community dynamics, are best understood in the context ofcurrent theoretical debates around contested notions of peoplehood: discursive practices associated with diasporan identity claims; transnationalism ; and the role of the past in representation. 2. Diasporan Identity: Theoretical Considerations To an increasingly eclectic mix of theorists from disciplines including cultural studies, literary studies, sociology, anthropology, psychology, and history, the term identity has come to signify a dynamic , sometimes volatile mix of old and new symbols and meanings , conflicting impressions, and ambiguous sentiments. What further links these theorists...