Living the Independence Dream

<p>For many Ukrainians 1991 was a crucial point when their long-held dream of independence came true. The image of the future life in independent Ukraine was then almost identical to folklore images of Ukraine as the land of milk and honey. Living the Independence Dream takes a multi-dimensional look at the period of regained independence as a time of advancement towards the realization of collective dreams shaping the post-Soviet nation even through everyday disappointments anxiety and uncertainty. The collection features personal accounts of several generations of Ukrainians who found themselves displaced by political upheavals in foreign lands as well as the voices of recently displaced people who left the Donbas or other regions of Ukraine following the outbreak of the Russian aggression. It revisits the legacy of Soviet dissidents and explores the ideologies of Ukrainian language revival and the ways that memory and language construct Ukrainian identity and generate vital energy amidst war.</p><p>The collection Living the Independence Dream aims to analyze the agency of contemporary Ukrainian people and the role of media literature and digital folklore in creating new messages meanings and values formed during the Independence decades. </p>