Posted by Kocaba on November 18, 2003 at 23:53:40:
In Reply to: Re: Єдина загадка є Russians (з Карпат). posted by Vasyljko on November 18, 2003 at 21:12:49:
You missed the point. My references was to the problem of self-identification, specifically in the USA. The reasons you cite may have been true in the beginning. Rusyns from Galicia (sic) experienced much of the same difficulties. I wouldn't say that they were better educated than Rusyns from the Carpathians, but the concept and confusion of Rusyn/Russian did not survive in the Ukrainian diaspora. Religion was important to both groups. However, the impact of the Russian Orthodox mission in America had a significant impact on the "Uhro-Rusyn"(interesting nomenclature)that has survived to this day. The term Ruthenian survived as an ecclesiastical designation well beyond 1918 in the USA. The term Ruthenian as a political self-identification never really caught on in the USA. The more common term was and, in some cases, is still Carpatho-Russian. In America, Rusyn is a relatively new usage, if not an awkward term (reference US Census reponses). For most of the descendants of Carpathian Rusyns the church was the source of ethnic identity. Even though the early immigrants attempted to maintain contact with the homeland through the church, this is no longer a reference point. When did the Byzantine Catholic Church cease referring to itself as Ruthenian? Have Orthodox churches ceased referring to themselves as Carpatho-Russian? In view of the rapid assimilation (particularly in contemporary societies)of stateless amorphous ethnic groups, perhaps the concept of Rusynism is too little and too late.