On the specific value of abstract thinking

Official Russia has proclaimed 2012 as Year of History, while in Ukraine Den/The Day is celebrating the Decade of Ukrainian History.

In 2002 we published the first book of the Ukraina Incognita Library series.

Yet, unfortunately, the efforts made are obviously disproportionate, for in the neighboring country this process is being spearheaded by the state. On the one hand, it is easier for them: all they have to do is admit being young. Why is this aggressive aspiration for thousand-year-long things in an era of rejuvenation cult? On the other hand, it is more difficult for Russia, for it is only approaching the assessment of its true history.

But we have a super-task. Ukraine must assume responsibility for a thousand-year-long history. But this requires, so to speak, a different format of both politics and journalism. It is mere coincidence that Europe does not see us on its map. We failed to explain ourselves to the world. We even failed to explain Ukraine to ourselves. Actually, we discussed all this in The Power of the Soft Sign.

A foreign diplomat in Ukraine once joked that Yaroslav the Wise seemed to have been the last wise Ukrainian ruler. Yes, this sounds not so comfortable, but it is important that the man knows that Yaroslav the Wise was OUR ruler. What do our politicians know about this? For, to be an heir and rule like this (pardon a daring comparison), it is not enough just sit in the city of Yaroslav. Incidentally, is not in Mizhhiria that, as legend has it, the Wise’s library was hidden? There is something sacral in this… It is like a popular students’ omen: if you put a book under the pillow on the eve of the exam, you will know everything.

But, seriously, all those who deal with or distance themselves from politics, work as journalists, or just want to know their country, ought to read attentively George Shevelov’s article “Moscow, Maroseika.” Although it is a sensational article, it has not, unfortunately, become a sensation for most Ukrainians – just because they do not understand this language and are not part of the semantic field that has resulted from Herculean cultural efforts. For this reason, texts of this level require additional “translation,” interpretation, and a thematic “top-up.”

What is Shevelov speaking about? About Ukraine’s fatal split – not along the Dnipro banks but in the matters of internal self-identification. What are we going to do with Russia? This has been a crucial question for the Ukrainians for centuries on end. And how can we interpret this baneful gravitation to the imperial center? Maybe, it is a psychological consequence of the fact that we ourselves were once an empire? Are we able to forgo at last the former imperial center and create a full-fledged non-imperial center based on horizontal links, a cultural union of cities and villages, on our Magdeburg Law democracy? This burden of the unformulated and the unpublicized still remains deep-rooted in many generations of the Ukrainians.

Ukraine has seen a lot of odd twists of fate – from the attempt of a cultural and intellectual expansion in Muscovy, Feofan Prokopovych as ideologue of Peter I’s state, to the Ukrainians who worked in the Russian and then Soviet empire, contributing their knowledge, intellect, and energy to the building of superpowers to which entire nations and first of all, the Ukrainians, fell victim. This raises the question: should Ukraine accept its responsibility for at least the last period of the 20th century? Our people will, of course, immediately begin to object: what responsibility if we did not have a nation state and ethnic Ukrainians were unaware of their ethnicity? This may be right, and this would be a very simple answer, especially if we take into account the complexity of Ukrainian history. But it seems to me this shows the imperial Kyivan Rus’-time sign. A split again. I once jokingly diagnosed the Ukrainian problem as “megalomania against the backdrop of inferiority complex.” In fact, I said it half-jokingly because this diagnosis is right to some extent. The current leadership wants to look strong but, for some reason, it is afraid of a nice idea to mark the 1,160th anniversary of the foundation of a Ukrainian state, even though, as far as I know, this idea was supported by some key figures at the Presidential Administration and a decree was drawn up to this effect.

When we speak about Moscow in the context of Shevelov, we, naturally, mean not a city but a center of Ukrainian strength and weakness. “Peter really won the cultural battle by fencing Ukraine off the West.” This pivotal phrase in Shevelov’s article also directly points to the intentions of the current Russian foreign policy.

The Decade of Ukrainian History was Den/The Day’s attempt to show the way: if the limits of freedom are narrowing, one must go upwards. Economic expansions, by-pass gas pipelines – all these and further attempts to cut Ukraine off the civilized world would be absolutely futile if the leadership were relying on, bringing up, rather than down, its own people. Any sinister instruments will give in to the strength of an educated society. So Ukraine needs a humanitarian policy which may not be written down but must be carried out.

“We will find a lot of Germans and Russians, but not Ukrainians, among the ‘birds of Peter’s nest.’ It is the Ukrainian Kochubeis who won the Battle of Poltava for Peter,” Shevelov writes. It will still take some effort to interpret these words, but it is clear that the Poltava defeat was caused by the situation in Ivan Mazepa’s inner circle. There were very few of those the hetman could trust, nor was he able to explain his intentions to the Cossack upper crust, let alone the general public, for there was a danger of information leaks. Does it not resemble something?

As for the Kochubei-style mentality, which Shevelov calls, along with Moscow and provincialism, a mortal enemy of Ukrainian renaissance, it is in fact a “by-product.” Whenever a split or uncertainty occurs, there always appear defectors who, bereft of their own value-based principles, begin to rush about. What begets traitors and deserters is uncertainty and lack of a personal reference frame. A state of uncertainty stimulates human mutations. “Who are you?” “What are you for?” “What are you in the name of?” A mature nation, we are still answering childish questions.

…Ukrainian journalists are still discussing in earnest whether a journalist should take a civic position.

We are not making sufficient efforts to overcome this “desolation syndrome.” Yes, Ukraine lost a huge human, intellectual, and spiritual resource in the 20th century. It is for this reason that Den/The Day proclaimed 2012, the 75th anniversary of the 1937 Great Terror, the Year of the Sandarmokh List – as a symbol of overcoming the past, reviving spiritual strength, honoring the memory of those killed, and making them part of the all-Ukrainian heritage. After all, as a symbol of the policy of memory, albeit without the [closed] institute [of memory].

Being more aware of our losses, we must make more efforts to overcome them. This is the very sense of any memorial days, weeks, and years, including Sandarmokh List Year. When the whole body is in danger, the living and healthy cells must produce more high-quality energy.

Many of our intellectuals, who could also be called so in the Soviet era, knew Shevelov’s principles, including his unpublished behest: not a single day without intellectual onslaught. I have a question: if you knew this, why did you not practise it?

And, after all, those who practiced knew about neither Shevelov nor his behests.

Maybe, society, generations, and schools will now manage to join forces. But this also requires communication and dialogue because muted questions will only eat you away, as psychologists have proved. And readiness to cooperate and the ability to heed directly depend on readiness to take actions. There is a wise maxim: do not expect understanding from people who are paid money for failing to understand – it is about the question of lack of solidarity.

We are looking for like-minded people among all the living. For example, when Ukraina Incognita saw the light of day, I understood that the “center” would not support us. So I made a tour of this country’s universities. This helped write a “guide book,” My Universities, which may be said to be accompanying Ukraina Incognita.

I do not overestimate our merits. But I think the “crystals,” which we, our contributors and partners have been growing for 15 years, were planted in society at a right time. I still keep the fond memories of Den/The Day’s first presentations, particularly, in Kirovohrad. Ten years ago, when there was no Den/The Day Library yet (yes, it is true!), our reader Andrii Ivanko informed me of such an invaluable (both then and now) thing as samizdat “Ukraina Incognita” – our readers would just cut out the best articles and stick them to ledgers. This was a decade ago. After that Den/The Day created what may be called book boom, but Ukraina Incognita still remains a favorite book for us and all our readers. It has already run into five editions, with a sixth now in the pipeline. History is the main nerve of public life in Ukraine.

It would be wrong to think that in the era of global information technologies, when online users have access to libraries all over the world, the danger of primitivism, simplification, and degradation has vanished. It still exists and sometimes even becomes more acute. So we should drag everybody off their sofas and force them to read! It is not necessary to take Den/The Day at once – what matters is the very process of reading. Therefore, the people who spurn a book are signing the program of their self-destruction. Ukraine cannot afford to have even one day without self-development efforts.

I once spoke about “temperature difference” in Ukrainian society. Today, this “atmospheric phenomenon” is assuming more formidable features, for an excessive “difference of temperatures and pressures” can finally result in a disaster, as the nature of tornado formation shows.

January 13 marks the 15th year of my association with the newspaper Den. So what, somebody will say. I will not deny that it is nothing special, nor will I enumerate all our projects, exhibits, 13 books, and the first chat conference with Russian audiences. I will only say that we have been creating, not just showing, our Ukraine.

Our Ukraine is beautiful. Its life is not so easy. But it is “populated” by very brilliant, mature, and interesting people, some of them, even 80 and more years old, such as Anatolii Svidzynsky and Valerii Stepankov, being uniquely young and serene. You feel very comfortable with them. And our young people are surprisingly wise, open, and kindhearted (which is unique in our world). They are constantly learning, like, for example, those who attend the Den’s Summer School of Journalism. These people accept every wise thing that the newspaper offers and, like heroes of a well-known cartoon, are always ready to help. Whenever I express my ideas, I know that our readers, contributors, experts, and students will discuss them and write to us – and we will see the results of this “family work.”

I invite you to live in our country, make it stronger by a joint effort, and expand its limits. We are an island that aspires to be a continent.

Now let me share some of my never-vanishing reminiscences. In childhood, I did not have too much entertainment and belonged to children who play on their own. There was a big black radio on the wall of my grandmother’s house. I once heard a choir (I was about three years old) and began to think how that choir had managed to sneak into the radio. As I remember, it was a cold season, but I rose from under the warm eiderdown and took the radio off the wall to see what was on the other side. Frankly speaking, what I saw disappointed me. But that was an extremely valuable piece of mental experience. An aspiration to look beyond the horizon, the boundary, shapes a certain way of thinking, a certain outlook, a certain vision of the world. This came in handy, when the newspaper Den was in the making.

As is known, the ability of the human being to think abstractly played a crucial role at a certain stage of the development of civilization. I have formulated this in simpler terms for myself: if you do not have the necessary, think of the impossible. When I came to the Den editorial office 15 years ago, I understood that a European newspaper should be DIFFERENT. But in what way different? The answer is: Ukrainian means intellectual, and Den/The Day is a newspaper of civic society.

We have carried out the minimum program in 15 years. So we have every right to drink a glass of champagne for the specific value of abstract thinking!