UKRAINIAN CULTURE 2
Abstract
This analysis is based on a two-hour conversation between the author, Abigail Augustine,
a twenty-two-year-old American female, and Sarah Shchavlinska, a twenty-five-year-old half
American, half Mexican female, who has lived for four years in Ukraine. The author and Mrs.
Shchavlinska have a close relationship, as they lead young adult groups at their Church together,
allowing the author the ability to ask personal questions about Mrs. Shchavlinska’s cultural
experience in Ukraine. The conversation began with the history of Ukraine, and the political
battles that have shaped modern day Ukraine, followed by the similarities and differences in
communication styles between American and Ukrainian cultures. Mrs. Shchavlinska grew up in
America until she was married four years ago and moved to Ukraine. She has only recently
moved back to her home state of Florida, after the recent passing of her husband. This analysis
aims to differentiate Ukrainian and American cultures and understand the interpersonal
communication skills and challenges of both cultures.
Keywords: Ukraine, cultural, difference, similarity, communication
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Ukrainian Culture Conversation Analysis
In looking at the history of Ukraine, politically, socially, and economically, there are a lot
of similarities and differences presented in relation to the United States. Mrs. Shchavlinska
explained the importance of understanding the history of Ukraine, including Ukraine’s
independence in 1991, the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and the man-made famine of the
1930’s, influencing Ukrainian language, food, symbols, and culture. Much like the American
culture, there are distinctly different mannerisms and cultural norms between different age
groups. In America, younger and older generations often differ in their worldview, technology,
education, political views and more due to prior experiences. In Ukraine, the generational
differences are often found in language and food choices.
Language
According to Mrs. Shchavlinska, even though Ukraine has always had its own language,
the older generation of Ukrainian people, who grew up old school Slavic under the Soviet Union
(USSR), still speak a mix of Russian and Ukrainian, where the younger generation often speaks a
mix of English and Ukrainian, or clean Ukrainian. One of the cultural reasons for younger
generations to not speak Russian began after gaining Independence from the USSR in 1991,
creating a sense of pride, division, and resistance against the Russians.
Ukrainian language also differs from the American language structure by operating as a
gendered language, with nouns being masculine, feminine, and neutral. This is a structure that
the English language does not follow. For example, Mrs. Shchavlinska explained her experience
with getting married and changing her last name. She explained her last name is Shchavlinska,
her husband’s last name is Shchavlinskyi, and together they are the Shchavlinski’s. She
explained how difficult it was to change her name in America to the proper feminine spelling
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form the Ukrainian culture. When updating her license in America, she was required to submit a
letter to Social Security with cultural reasoning for change, as the marriage certificate only had
the masculine last name from her husband, forcing her initially do put his last name on her
license. Ukrainian culture also differs in not having a “middle name”, as seen often in American
culture. The structure of a Ukrainian name is first name, family name, last name. A family name
will be the dad’s last name, plus vych or vich depending on the name.
Food
Mrs. Shchavlinska talked about the generational difference in food. After the famine of
the 1930’s called Holodomor, where approximately seven million people perished, the older
generation has been accustomed to not leaving any waste from a dish, including scraps of every
animal or plant used. The Holodomor in simplest terms was a man-made famine causing
starvation in grain-grown regions, where the Communist Party forced people to give up their
land, ultimately leading to food shortage and lack of production, leaving many starved to death
(Markevich et al., 2021). If any Ukrainian were to try to steal food, even a grain, they would be
put into camps and punished.
One dish that is popular in Ukrainian culture is called Kholodets. Which consists of
primarily pigs’ feet, bone broth, and gelatin, served with a horseradish sauce. Mrs. Shchavlinska
is not fond of this dish, but it is a cultural staple for older generations who would rather not waste
any bit of food. On the other hand, younger generations love to mimic the American culture with
the presence of fast-food restaurants and Americanized food. One distinction that Mrs.
Shchavlinska noted was that there are over fifty restaurants in the city she lived that served both
pizza and sushi in the same establishment while playing American pop music, in hopes to be
trendy. The younger generations are not as worried about waste.
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Social Culture
Social culture for Ukraine differs from America in their hosting style, street wear,
mannerisms, family values and more. Mrs. Shchavlinska noted her cultural shock moving to
Ukraine from America. When diving into the social culture of Ukraine, it is found that their
communication style to be one that presents both low-context and high-context but leans more on
the latter. High-context cultures as explained in the text have communication skills that are more
nonverbal, with societal expectations and a traditional culture (Samovar et al., 2016). One of the
first cultural shocks of Mrs. Shchavlinska pertained to the clothing and beauty standards of
Ukrainian people. She found that one must be presented in nice attire, always have fingernails
painted, hair and makeup to be always maintained well no matter the economic status of
someone. In America, women and men can wear a range of styles from business casual to gym
attire in most environments. In Ukraine, people are well maintained, and if one does not present
themselves well, they will be politely told to fix their hair, makeup, or nails by any stranger.
They have a blunt and honest communication, highly valuing direct communication, while
setting cultural normal expectations. However, their body language and facial expressions tell
more than words will from the beginning, and bluntness is only necessary should one not being
meeting societal expectations.
Hosting culture is also a large part of the Ukrainian culture, with importance of keeping a
tidy house and always being well prepared for visitors. Guests are the number one priority, there
will always be a stocked fridge, tea, cookies, and a house is expected to be clean. Guests almost
always are expected to bring a gift for the woman, man, and children, expressing the importance
of knowing the whole family. Guests will often bring toys for kids, chocolates and flowers for
women, and alcohol for men, and make their visit last a few hours.
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Another cultural difference is the “American Smile”. Ukrainian residents do not smile at
or make eye contact with strangers on the street, nor do they smile with teeth showing. Closed
mouth smiles are acceptable only to people you are acquainted with. This exemplifies trust and
politeness. Mrs. Shchavlinska also explained how important a social network is, as you are not
trusted until you are in a circle and known by someone. For example, doctors and taxi drivers
will cater to your schedule and needs, if you have a social network, otherwise you may not
receive special, accepting treatment. If you are familiar with people in government, corruption is
high, allowing things such as speeding tickets to be dropped with bribes.
The family structure and faith have similarities and differences from American culture.
One similarity is the presence of Christianity, particularly orthodox and protestant. One Bible
verse that holds true in this culture is Matthew 19:6, “So they are no longer two but one
flesh.@What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate” (English Standard
Bible,@2001/2016). One of the biggest differences is that most people in Ukraine will not move
out of their family home until marriage, and divorce and homosexuality are not common at all,
and the traditional family structure of a man providing and woman being the home keeper is
important. High education is not as prevalent in Ukraine; however, weddings are a huge event
with massive gifts from friends and family.
Conclusion
Overall, Ukrainian, and American culture has both distinct similarities and differences.
The largest cultural differences are the language structure, family structure, and social standards,
when compared to American culture. To fully analyze the true culture of Ukraine, it would be
helpful to visit the country and firsthand experience intercultural communication differences.
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References
English Standard Bible. (2016). Crossway Bibles. (Original work published 2001)
Markevich, A., Naumenko, N., & Qian, N. (2021, August 2). The causes of Ukrainian famine
mortality, 1932-33. SSRN. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Papers.cfm?abstract_id=3894621
Samovar, L. A., Porter, R. E., McDaniel. E. R., & Roy, C. S. (2016). Communication between
cultures (9th ed.). Cengage Learning (US).
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