How to return the cult of the intellect?

The Day continues its series of meetings with Ukrainian students. This time the newspaper paid a visit to Chernihiv oblast, a starting point for intellectual and social life in our country’s history. “History is a discussion about the future” was the theme of the debate that took place at Chernihiv’s Shevchenko National Pedagogic University on February 10. It involved students and teachers of local higher educational institutions, with the participation of The Day’s editor-in-chief Larysa Ivshyna, who believes that our past continues to live in the present. Chernihiv is an important place to discuss our history, and not only because the city has a millennium of history, but also because the touch of history can be felt there. Chernihiv region is a land of museums, churches and historical houses, like Tarnovsky’s mansion, Symyrenko’s sugar refineries, Halahanys’ house. This list can be expanded. St. Catherine Church, founded in 1715, greets visitors at the end of a long alley. Surprisingly, few Kyiv residents visit Chernihiv, which is just two hours away.

For two years in succession the students of The Day’s Summer School of Journalism have been studying historical sites in Chernihiv region. In the first year they studied Baturyn and Kruty, and in the second year — Kachanivka, So­ky­ryntsi and Trostianets. Those trips came as a revelation even for those students who have an extended university background in history. But Chernihiv region is only a beginning. The regular trips across the country and routes of the Summer School of Journalism show that it is everybody’s homework to put those must-see places on the historical map of Ukraine. It is impossible to speak about one’s own country without this.

Therefore the discussion on history at the Chernihiv University, where The Day was not for the first time either, came to the following conclusions: a man is an effort to be a man; a Ukrainian is an effort to be a Ukrainian, and a country and nation is born of the efforts of their creators. In recent years the city has seen the launch of books from The Day’s Library, including Ukraina Incognita, Two Rus’es, Wars and Peace, The Day and Eternity of James Mace, which are must-reads for those who are eager to understand their country and complicated moments of its past. This time, launching the newest publications of Den/The Day — two-volumes Extract 150 and Extract +200 — we wanted to see the result of our work.

“We are facing new interesting tasks,” Ivshyna admitted at the confe­rence’s opening, “For nowadays know­ledge alone does not give answers to to­pical questions. The amount of information which is becoming gradually more available does not solve everything. Proof of this is the case of the WikiLeaks website. Today the problem of whether information carries enough va­lues is growing more acute. Therefore, we once again turn to spiritual things, a system of education based on values. Extract 150 is a compilation of pertinent publications from our newspaper, which have survived their time; Extract +200 includes the works of the great Ukrainian philosopher Serhii Krymsky. I recommend everyone to read them, to use them like a health elixir, in times when, according to Krymsky, we feel an acute need to bring back the cult of intellect.”

How can we bring back the cult of the intellect? IVSHYNA spoke about this, while giving answers to the questions of the participants of the conference.

The country can develop according to two models: either the society understands its history and identity, or there will be a total control of citizens by the state. It is too early to speak about self-understanding. So, what model will Ukrainian politics follow?

“By no means can we return to totalitarianism. But at the same time we have little time to outline the contours of the new country. And so far we have a hybrid Soviet system and germs of European tradition, and inklings of a new one. How fast we will build the new country depends on how many people will contribute to this process. At the same time I am sure that in Ukraine any centralized control of people’s thoughts is impossible. Our problem is that we lack a full-fledged national information space; the country sees itself only via television. But one should not think that no qualitative processes are taking place, it is up to us to bolster them, by making more efforts. Therefore I think that society can help itself without the politicians. On the other hand, if we want to create our country, we should be guided by two key phrases: ‘intellectual space’ and ‘intelligent voter.’”

Can you please name ten books that you regard as a ‘sanitary minimum.’ When should people read them? Should they be read at school or does one have to be more mature to understand them?

“In my answer to this question I can refer only to luminaries. In 2002, in the article ‘Serhii Krymsky: minimum for European humanities education’ we gave a list of books that are considered must-reads by Krymsky. So, one should be mature enough for these books. But in fact everyone can have his/her own list. For example, the ‘sanitary minimum’ of my childhood years included Ivan Franko’s Mykyta the Fox. This book stirred up extremely strong emotions and feelings in me. If one treats everything with an open mind, universal meanings can be found even in a children’s book.

“Then there was the book How the Steel was Hardened. That was the time when we watched many post-war films, and we tried our strength. Today it is funny to recall that, but on the other hand the plants that grow in the desert also harden their tools to be able to grow, although it may seem that there are no resources. I was immensely impressed by Shakespeare’s historical chronicles. At the time I was a student of the third or fourth grade and chose the book because it was thick and had a nice cover. At the same time already then I felt that Shakespeare is ‘the world’s everything.’ But when I opened this huge book at home and read a few pages about Henry, I did not understand a thing. It was a shocking circumstance, but something already then told me that I would come back to Shakespeare. Everyone says that Shakespeare is a great figure, so I thought that I should read his works later. One should always have a well-structured picture of the world in one’s head. In the picture of the world Shakespeare is too high, whereas I, at the time, was too low. I had to understand this, because the distance between me and Shakespeare could be enriched with many books. Incidentally, Ukrainian classics also played an important part in my life. I knew A Witch of Konotop almost by heart, as well as Kaidash’s Family. Ukrainian li­terature is unjustly regarded as simplistic and out of date. It needs a new interpretation. Everyone should acquire this desire to learn and develop, and then use the most useful recommendations.”

How to become a professional journalist?

“I was greatly helped by the fact that I grew up in a small raion center without a TV set. I would carry piles of books with me, and I had a clear vision of the world. Now we have a huge access to information. But unfortunately, though we have a great number of higher education institutions that prepare journalists, few of them meet the needs of society. Has not the line of people standing to see Lina Kostenko proved that there is a great demand for culture? Was it not proof that we need a high-quality and deep-looking press? In this information era we are living in a ghetto where an apartheid-style policy targets intelligent readers and viewers. Books, libraries, intellectual newspapers and journals are the way out, much valuable information can also be found online. This is a direction for those who are eager to do independent journalism.”

Many questions, particularly from young people, also concerned The Day.

“Does the level of freedom of expression influence the choice of materials to be published in The Day? Why is a pro-Ukrainian newspaper also published in Russian?”

“Today’s politicians don’t care much about serious political science, histo­rical, or analytical journalism. But Ukrainian journalists would be of much use to society if they stopped sticking labels to politicians, while speaking about the restriction of freedom of expression, and were more contemplative instead. Are we helping our country when we caricature its political life? If journalists changed, we would have had a different kind of politician. As for the language, we should bring our perception of the world to people in as many languages as possible — Ukrainian, Rus­sian, and English, which for many years in succession has been able to find grateful readers. When James Mace started to work with our newspaper, he wrote for a column in the newspaper’s English-language digest. And the world understood him faster than Ukraine. Therefore we should use many languages, as we keep repeating that the world knows little about Ukraine.”

In her answer to a question about the minimum needed to improve society, Ivshyna admitted, “I have immediately moved from a minimum program to a maximum one. Imagine the year 1997. What kind of period was it? In 1997 the newspaper Den was founded as a newspaper for civic society. Now it seems that this topic has been broached not so long ago, but in fact it was a burning issue at that time, and it will continue to be the case. Later we launched our historical library, as well as the annual Photo Exhibit of The Day. We wanted to establish the points which would bring the country together, which would show people examples of self-organization. Is this not a maximum program?”

The Day’s meetings in Chenihiv are also unique because there we always find ‘partisans,’ who not only take interest in such talks, but help us, creating many other pro­jects that develop upon The Day’s initiatives. Six years ago, with the assistance of the deputy head of the oblast state admi­nistration Viktor Tkanko, the book Cher­nihiv Region Incognita was published in Chernihiv and became a regional version of Ukraina Incognita, published within The Day’s Library. At the initiative of the local re­sident Valerii Koval, the action “A Gift for Native School” was launched. This time, during the readers’ conference, we learned that after reading our Library and the column “Ukrainians, you should read!” Lilia Taranova, a Merited Teacher of Ukraine launched the project “Chernihiv, a city that reads.” Such actions by Chernihiv residents aim to turn their city into an intellectual center, which is, for The Day, the best result from all its meetings and projects throughout Ukraine. But we don’t want this to be an isolated case. For example, despite the fact that Chernihiv has a good historical school, and two Chernihiv residents are brilliant contributors to The Day — Tamara Demchenko and Serhii Krymsky’s student Volodymyr Boiko — nobody in the audience knew who Serhii Krymsky was.

“Can we live in a different kind of Ukraine and reach different results, making the same efforts?” Volodymyr Boiko asked the students during the readers’ conference. “On the whole, we can. You just try to look differently at life, and communicate in a different manner. Learn to think! The newspaper Den can assist you in this, as it plays the role of a kind of intellectual ‘provocateur.’” This is advice the students can follow. They can start from learning about Krymsky and visit The Day’s Photo Exhibit, which was launched after the readers’ conference at the Chernihiv Museum of Contemporary Art, “Plast-Art.”

“The Day’s photo exhibit is a living project. Like everything in our newspaper, it is created like a ‘people’s building,’ following certain patterns and reinforced by the energy of talented people from all over the country. And this panorama of modern Ukrainian life to some extent counterbalances the deficiency of the national information space. Once I wrote that we are standing at the threshold of great happiness of loving our country, but it is impossible to love anything, unless you know it well. Right now we are blindfold, trying to feel it by touch [...] We have specially created the ‘The World via Children’s Eyes,’ because shots featuring children, with their sincerity, are always exciting and move even the hardest people. At the same time these are press photos, created according to the following principle: professionalism multiplied by sincerity and energy. And it seems to be a really good formula,” Ivshyna noted when launching The Day’s Photo Exhibit in Chernihiv.

Our regular partners, who help us show Chernihiv residents the best works of Ukrainian photographers, are the Chernihiv oblast council, the Chernihiv Oblast State Administration and the museum of contemporary art “Plast-Art.” The museum’s seven halls, with a total area of nearly 1,000 square meters (!), allow us to organize an exhibit of almost the same scale as in Kyiv.

“The Day and the museum of contemporary art ‘Plast-Art’ have much in common,” Volodymyr Lychkovakh, a Chernihiv scholar and Ph.D. in Philo­sophy contends, “The Day is not merely a newspaper, and the museum does not deal with merely artistic issues. They both perform a great cultural-educational mission, which helps all of us explore this great white spot on Europe’s map that is called ‘Ukraine Incognita,’ with the assistance of The Day.”

Chernihiv residents will have a month to learn about their country through the works of masterful photographers that take part in The Day exhibit, some of whom are from Chernihiv.

COMMENTARIES

Anatolii TYMOSHENKO, pro-rector for education at Chernihiv’s Shevchenko National Pedagogic University:

“In order to understand the present and predict what will happen tomorrow, we should go back deep into the past. In order to understand, why are we making these mistakes today, we should analyze events dated several hundreds years ago and see that the basis for our mistakes is hidden there. History is not only buildings and politicians, but also our great-grandfathers, whose mental traits and traditions we carry in our genes. Therefore history cannot be viewed merely in socioeconomic and socio-political terms. Today it is important to know the psychological peculiarities of the nation. For if we understand what is guiding us, we will understand ourselves as we are today. And The Day’s photo exhibit is traditionally wonderful. I keep saying to my students: ‘If you want to come close to understanding Ukraine, you ought to visit The Day’s photo exhibit, because you can see real Ukraine there.’”

Leonid SMOLIAK, first deputy head of the Main Department of Culture, Tourism and Protection of Cultural Legacy at the Cher­nihiv Oblast State Administration:

“Looking through the Photo Exhi­bit ‘Den-2010,’ I was surprised that Ukraine has such talented people who are not only able to find the perfect angle, but, to use the words of our fellow countryman Oleksandr Dovzhenko, ‘see stars in the puddles of the daily routine.’ The photos presented at the exhibit are very different, they are exciting, heart-warming; they radiate warmth; some are tense and dramatic, but some are quite funny. But all of them prove that Ukraine does have talented people, not only among professionals, because the exhibit includes many works by amateurs. And the category ‘The World through the Children’s Eyes’ is absolutely unique. Therefore I wish the photo exhibit of The Day long years of creative work. And thank you on behalf of all residents of Chernihiv for the month during which hundreds of people will be able to see the photo exhibit; they will certainly be surprised and excited, and experience lots of positive emotions.”

Svitlana PRYHORNYTSKA, organizing pedagogue at the Chernihiv Gymnasium No. 31:

“It is a second time that I visit The Day’s Photo Exhibit with my students from the gymnasium No.31. I like photography very much, as this is the art of fixing the life revolving around us. The Day’s photo exhibit is impressive. Last year the photos touched my students so much that they became tearful, albeit laughing at the same time. It is because the works of the participants of the photo exhibit show different Ukraines, and each photo is very well made.”

Tetiana HRABOVETS, a fourth-year student, Chernihiv National Pedagogic University:

“Ukrainians usually do not think about global issues because of their daily problems. For example, few if any deeply study our history, and not only do they shy away from history’s complicated periods, but even the history of their native regions. Meeting with The Day’s editor-in-chief made us pay attention to things that are seemingly apparent, but which we don’t notice because we are busy with our daily routine. I have understood once again that we should make much more efforts to make our country truly free and prosperous. Therefore I am thankful to Ms. Ivshyna for the daily newspaper, interesting talk and her clear-cut stand. For my question on the models of Ukrainian politics, I received the book Ukraina Incognita as a present from The Day’s editor-in-chief. Now I read it with my mother every day.”