This study investigates how Ukrainian diaspora communities employ cross-cultural communication to construct, sustain, and assert national and ethnic identity within global contexts. Emphasizing increased migration and the 2022 Russian invasion, the research identifies communicative strategies that facilitate the maintenance of cultural identity abroad. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, data were collected from focus groups, social media analysis through content analysis, and a survey of 600 diaspora members in Poland, Germany, and Canada. The results showed a strong and positive correlation between national identity and diaspora communication networks (r = 0.63, p < 0.05), indicating that community organizations and digital platforms are essential for fostering cultural ties and expressing identity. Symbolic cultural resources emerged as a stronger predictor of national identity among diaspora members (β = 0.28, p < 0.05) than intercultural processes (β = 0.09, p < 0.05), indicating that Ukrainian language, symbols, traditions, and collective war memory are primary markers of ethnic identity. The analysis reveals the emergence of hybrid identities as diaspora members integrate Ukrainian and host-country norms. Notably, identity representation and recognition vary significantly across host countries (p < 0.05). The study integrates communication practices, symbolic resources, and the host country’s context to examine how diaspora identity is formed and constructed through everyday communication and intercultural interaction in a transnational, multicultural setting.
This study investigates how Ukrainian diaspora communities employ cross-cultural communication to construct, sustain, and assert national and ethnic identity within global contexts. Emphasizing increased migration and the 2022 Russian invasion, the research identifies communicative strategies that facilitate the maintenance of cultural identity abroad. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, data were collected from focus groups, social media analysis through content analysis, and a survey of 600 diaspora members in Poland, Germany, and Canada. The results showed a strong and positive correlation between national identity and diaspora communication networks (r = 0.63, p < 0.05), indicating that community organizations and digital platforms are essential for fostering cultural ties and expressing identity. Symbolic cultural resources emerged as a stronger predictor of national identity among diaspora members (β = 0.28, p < 0.05) than intercultural processes (β = 0.09, p < 0.05), indicating that Ukrainian language, symbols, traditions, and collective war memory are primary markers of ethnic identity. The analysis reveals the emergence of hybrid identities as diaspora members integrate Ukrainian and host-country norms. Notably, identity representation and recognition vary significantly across host countries (p < 0.05). The study integrates communication practices, symbolic resources, and the host country’s context to examine how diaspora identity is formed and constructed through everyday communication and intercultural interaction in a transnational, multicultural setting.
