STRATEGY FOR THE PAST AND FUTURE

Published in September 2006, the book Larysa Ivshyna: My Universities was not complete. It describes how The Day’s books are being used in student communities across the country, but covers only the period from 1999 to 2006. The reason behind its incompleteness is that by the time it was published, the Ostroh Club was launched on the initiative of The Day ’ s editor in chief. The club offers young people an informal discussion forum and has already hosted several meetings in Ostroh Academy and Odesa University. The students joke that they are collecting material for a sequel to My Universities.

Club members will soon meet in Karazin Kharkiv National University, where a conference was organized on Feb. 16, 2007, for the readers of the books in The Day’s Library Series.

We were looking forward to meeting the students at one of the most powerful Ukrainian educational institutions, founded 200 years ago in 1804 on the initiative of the well-known public figure Vasyl Karazin. Associated with the university were such prominent people as Petro Hulak-Artemovsky, Mykola Kostomarov, and Oleksandr Potebnia. Several Nobel Prize winners studied there: biologist Ilya Mechnikov, physicist Lev Landau, and economist Simon Kuznets. Johann Goete, Leo Tolstoy, Ivan Franko, and Mykhailo Hrushevsky were its honorary members.

The ensuing discussion did not fall short of our expectations. We had a thorough and vigorous exchange followed by extended informal discussions that took place in the modern AVEK Gallery. Below are the most interesting excerpts from this discussion.

Larysa IVSHYNA, editor of The Day:

“I have traveled to many universities to reach this meeting. The Day’s last meeting with its Kharkiv readership was in 1998. I carried the passionate spirit of this roundtable discussion throughout these long years. We made a substantial contribution to the development of public opinion in Ukraine. For example, we discovered two political scientists, Vadym Karasiov and Volodymyr Fesenko, who are asked for their opinions by all the mass media. I hope that during this second visit we will get to know many interesting authors here. Professor Shkoda can confirm that The Day introduced the unusual column “The Philosopher’s Bench” at his suggestion.

“You may ask: what does a daily newspaper have to do with philosophy? In these perplexing times of change we desperately need philosophers to sort things out for us.

“After 1999 we realized that we were not going to see rapid political changes in our society and decided, perhaps somewhat overconfidently, that we need to help society understand its problems. In general terms, our library may be called a strategy toward the past. The first book, Ukraine Incognita, incorporated the material of one newspaper column. Imagine how amazed I was when, after the book was launched in Kirovohrad, I was approached by a person who showed me the book’s hand-made twin edition with the same title! The second book, Two Ruses, was based on a conceptual model rather than being a collection of articles. Its first readers were staff members of the Russian Embassy. After we regained our independence and began a new life, naturally we needed to look around and consider our past relations with Russia and explain that, as the saying goes, Russian democracy ends where the Ukrainian question begins.

“The book Wars and Peace focuses on relations with Poland and was also published in Polish. It is important that the book reflects the Ukrainian standpoint and was not sponsored by any Polish grants. It seems to me that with the Poles we managed to come closer to fulfilling the dictum “Forgive and apologize.” This is not the case with the Russians and, to all appearances, is not likely to be phrased that way any time soon. Their attitude to the Holodomor in Ukraine is eloquent testimony to their position. We wrote a lot about this tragedy and published the book Day and Eternity of James Mace, which is composed of the research and newspaper articles of this eminent American Ukrainian, who worked for The Day. This year, on his birthday, we prepared an electronic version of this book. Memory has to be dynamic.

“The fifth book in The Day’s Library Series is The Apocrypha of Klara Gudzyk. Our Klara is a woman of encyclopedic knowledge. She embarked on her journalism career when she was over 60 years old. This is her intellectual challenge-she is proving that intellect does not grow old.

“My Universities was published as a result of numerous meetings with our readers in universities. These are the universities that I consider my own-I found understanding and hospitality there and it was interesting to think and field questions. My recommendation to you is to join the Ostroh Club, which also came into being after a discussion about our Library Series. We were in Odesa and the students at Odesa University asked me what the national idea is. I answered that it would be better to speak on this topic in Ostroh Academy-its ambience is conducive to discussions of our identity and prospects. I know that students from Kharkiv, Donetsk, and Zaporizhia universities have already joined the club. In general, it is important for students to talk. Because when we talk about Ukraine’s integration into something, we need to understand, above all, that there is precious little being done to integrate the country from the inside. Our newspaper is trying to explain that when we have a strategy toward our past, we need to work out our strategy for the future.”

Denys ZHURAVLIOV, Associate Professor, Department of History:

“The history of wars is within my scope of research, and I very much enjoyed reading Wars and Peace. With so many people to talk about, will you continue the Ukrainian-Polish topic? And are you planning to publish a book on Ukrainian-Belarusian-Lithuanian relations?”

L.I.: “When I made up my mind to publish Two Ruses, I knew what bothered me personally: the fact that there were so few great Russian intellectuals who spoke about the Ukrainian issue-Vladimir Korolenko, the young Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Andrei Sakharov, and a few others. This topic is not exhausted by one book. If we could find editors that know how to expand the scope of the book and have a ready list of additional topics to be covered, perhaps we would publish an expanded edition of Two Ruses. In fact, the Belarusian-Lithuanian period in our history deserves a book, but we need professionals who specialize in this topic, people who would be willing to do it. And this can be done even by e-mail. So, Denys, can we count on you to be one of these people?”

Maryna HRYHORIEVA, Ph.D. student, Department of History:

“In the preface to My Universities you wrote that students play an important part in creating a civic society. How do you understand the function of the university in bringing up students?”

L.I.: “In the preface I also wrote that despite all difficulties, everywhere that personalities lead the way, the finest traditions are preserved and progress takes place: people successfully resist folly and somehow educate young specialists. The atmosphere of freedom and creativity reigns in these universities. Unfortunately, as far as I can see, we have not had any sensible education strategy. Nobody has asked how long it will take to prepare new university teachers, offer them new opportunities, and support those who remain from the old school. (The distinction is still being made: they say, “This is an old Soviet professor.”) What does this imply? On the one hand, we deplore the predominance of ideology in the Soviet Union, which forced everybody to study all kinds of trash instead of subjects taught throughout the world. But, as it turned out, in modern times we have not received so much quality knowledge and to an extent have lost the best of what we used to have. In this respect Ukrainian universities are uneven. Perhaps that’s our chief problem right there: Ukraine does not have a uniform standard in the sphere of humanities.

“Of course, it is easy to say that universities should be able to enjoy autonomy, involve charity funds in addition to state funding, have their own charters, elective councils, and student self-government. Who is against all this? Hardly anybody. But how do we implement these things in practice in a country where political reform may well have been launched too early, where there is a lack of specialists, and ministers are chosen from among one’s own supporters rather than professionals. But I am sure that we will eventually see how high-quality universities, even in their present quantity, will change things for the better. So today we need to cooperate and support one another.”

Vil BAKIROV, Rector, Karazin Kharkiv National University:

“I have long wanted to hear that Larysa Ivshyna understands the university as both an educational and cultural entity. Then I decided I needed to answer the question myself. As a matter of fact, this is a serious and painful subject. According to the highest standards, there are virtually no universities in Ukraine. A university is not merely an educational institution that prepares specialists with a higher education. To be a genuine university, it has to meet at least five or six requirements, which few Ukrainian universities are capable of doing (except ours and several others). First of all, a university has to have real fundamental science, which is a rare thing in modern Ukraine. Second, it has to have a strong humanities component in the form of groups of subjects, departments, and majors. There has to be a well-stocked library, a botanical garden, and an astronomical observatory. More than that, the spirit of freedom of thought, a cult of critical thinking, and century-long traditions have to be in place — only then will it be a true university.”

Oleksandr KHYZHNIAK, Head of the University Student Council:

“In our university, student self-government enables students to produce local newspapers in many departments. We are now working on launching a university newspaper. What is your attitude to student journalism? What mechanisms for cooperation can we discuss with you now?”

L.I.: “This seems to be a special suggestion to exchange phone numbers and e-mail addresses, i.e., to begin our cooperation.

“People often talk about how to become a journalist. Naturally, some — preferably special — education is desirable because writing can be learned. Journalism requires an arsenal of tools that an educated person knows how to use. Frankly, I never accorded scholarly status to journalism and never believed that so many textbooks are needed. I studied journalism myself, but I believe that it is better when people study, say, law or sociology. When they develop a desire to learn how to express themselves and do public relations, they will inevitably enter the ranks of journalists. In my opinion, our newspaper is unique in that we have been making it together with our well-informed readers. Furthermore, I believe that today higher educational institutions must simply attack public opinion. Who will be the true engine of reforms? At one time this role belonged to monasteries and universities. We will not talk about monasteries now, but universities should be viewed with some hope.”

Olena DERIAPA, fifth-year student, Department of Sociology:

“Do you believe that Ukraine is capable of creating a successful media brand that will make a name for itself, like CNN? What does a periodical have to do in our country to continue to be as popular as The Day has been for so many years?”

L.I.: “An intellectual periodical in contemporary society is like the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. They don’t grow in natural soil. What is needed is transformations and alluvial soil that would provide ideas demanded by society. Our newspaper has found a spot among the rocks where there is some fertile ground. Seizing the opportunity, we are trying to create. In a way, we are like a small research institute. So this is a far cry from CNN. Here is a recent event for your consideration. Putin’s address in Munich is being discussed in the entire world-it is a serious event in geopolitics. Angela Merkel’s response is also a subject of discussions. Ukraine’s president, however, arrived without his foreign affairs minister. The question is not who has to fill this position but what clear message this is sending to other countries. Furthermore, our country does not have the right discussion format for such issues. Who will analyze Putin’s address if all our debates are held in the form of talk shows? For such mass media as CNN to function, there first has to be a country like theUnited States. In Kyiv-Mohyla Academy foreign grant-givers have told students how detached the journalist has to be. Right, but our country is in a different situation. Before creating the BBC, Britain had to be created. You cannot create a country with detached journalism.”

Oleksii KRYSENKO, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science:

“Ms. Ivshyna, you have already become a kind of cultural hero, who is participating in the reconstruction of Ukraine’s historical memory and in the development of a modern Ukrainian cultural project. What is happening in our country is outrageous. Any educated person cannot help viewing things with extreme skepticism. That’s why I would like to know your suggestions. On the one hand, you have a cultural stance- you are contributing to Ukraine’s cultural transformation. On the other, as a cultural hero, you are not setting any strategic cultural objectives for us to pursue.”

L.I.: “Thank you for your question. I believe that cultural and educational work is the most creative work that is possible to do in the current conditions. We have kept a low profile in the recent political turmoil: we were not deeply involved in the “Ukraine without Kuchma” campaign or the Orange Revolution, and this is understandable. As early as 1999 it was clear what kind of regime had established itself and what consequences we were facing. I understood this not only because I knew all the characters in the play virtually since the beginning of their activities (which is when I embarked on my journalism career). It was obvious, but it was a long while before the eyes of the masses were opened. Perhaps it was a good thing that people, even with the example of Major Mykola Melnychenko’s tapes, understood how politics was being made. But did it overwhelm the people? Not in the least. What was the outcome? Virtually all the participants of the political battles received their benefits and positions. Their pledges to erect a monument to Giia Gongadze and name a street in his honor sound like profanity now. The body has not been buried. Humanly, we understand what kind of drama was playing out before our eyes. As far as the Orange Revolution is concerned, we also knew their participants before the event and could well imagine what consequences their accession to power would entail. But we know the other camp equally well. Realistically, we can only wait and hope that the processes that have had a greater impact on society will make it slowly evolve and demand new politics. Therefore, we must use cultural and educational tools to raise our society’s awareness in order to make it enforce a different system of reference points.”

Vil BAKIROV, Rector:

“Ms. Ivshyna, have you had disappointments with democracy?”

L.I.: “I think that what we have is not even democracy. Democracy at this stage is a great overdose or, put in a different way, an ersatz product disguised as democracy. My opinion may not be readily accepted by others. We had opportunities to change the course of our history. Why didn’t we seize them? Partly due to subjective factors and partly because of old maladies. Fedor Dostoevsky said it well: sentimentality is a great environment for socialism. Think about the last municipal elections in Kyiv. Who used democratic tools? It was a case of total rejection of common sense. I believe that many things in our society feed harmful trends that make us lose touch with reality and forget about hard, everyday work.”

Oleksandr HOLIKOV, Ph.D. student, Department of Sociology:

“One time in The Day I came across an unusual expression by the American NATO general John Shalikashvili to the effect that we have not achieved victory until a CNN news report says so. You have raised the problem of constructing social order and Ukrainian identity here. Without a doubt, you understand that the mass media play an important part in the modern world. However, sociological studies show that Ukrainian identity is usually constructed by way of negation, i.e., Ukraine is not Russia, Ukrainians are not Poles, etc. The adverse impact of this trend is that we keep rehashing negative topics in our history. One is fittingly reminded of your statement that The Day and its Library Series are offering a strategy toward the past. A chain of associations springs to mind. George Orwell wrote: “Who owns the present, owns the past; who owns the past; owns the future.” If you are constructing our identity, i.e., our future, we have two possibilities: to establish one more or less dominant view, as you have mentioned, but this may smell of intellectual totalitarianism. The second possibility is that each mass medium can analyze, for example, Putin’s address in Munich but offer its own-different-interpretation. But then who are the fathers of society that will be looked up to? What is the role of the mass media in all these processes and their responsibility for them? What functions are the mass media supposed to fulfill and which are they actually fulfilling? Finally, what is your prognosis for the sociocultural situation in society from a mass media perspective?”

L.I.: “Dr. Bakirov, where do you get these kinds of students and what do you do with them? (Laughs.)

“I believe that a serious approach to these questions would result in a Ph.D. thesis or at least a series of lectures. I will merely offer my observations because one has to be very light-minded to attempt to provide theoretical justification for the issues you have just raised. As far as the role of the mass media in society is concerned, I published an article arguing that the Ukrainian mass media have distorted the criteria and parameters for evaluating current processes in Ukraine. In my opinion, this is partly caused by who their owners are. The mass media spread both positive and infectious things. Watching television or reading their newspapers, people may have counted on the mass media to deliver, in a conscientious and meticulous way, the depth and truth of life. What they often received was, in fact, a genuine mistake at best or an obviously commissioned and biased interpretation.

“Let us say that Russia chose one way for itself, whereas in Ukraine the so-called political reform was being actively lobbied. Can we call this a mere mistake, coincidence, or a vested interest? A large dose of authoritarianism is contraindicated for Russia because it has an authoritarian hyperfunction, whereas we have a lack of will and, on top of that, a transplanted system that makes it difficult to focus on solving the main tasks. Institutions of power engage in never-ending disputes, and this is happening against the background of what we already had in the 20th century, when individual aspirations for power tore the country apart.

“What role did the mass media play here? Were there voices calling for people to think about these things? Was society itself ready to think about them? Or did it just swallow the changes that MPs first adopted by so-called “package voting” and then sat down and thought, “What is going to come out of this? The mass media are thus involved and they play a very significant role. Without a doubt, it all depends on the condition of businesses. I don’t even know where the full-fledged mass media can be expected to come from.

“Public television is seen as a panacea. But the question should be asked whether people are willing to pay for public television when we already have the budget-funded First National Channel, which in principle has to inform people. You may imagine what a set of issues to be addressed is prompted by the realities of our life. Otherwise we could paint some very rosy pictures.

“It seems to me that we are very slow in getting anywhere near some standards. Nevertheless, we have a wide spectrum of opinions. We are not like Turkmenistan, where until very recently the Internet was banned. Ukrainians have access to foreign-speaking environments. This is how we are working on it. With time, I am sure, this qualitative demand of our readers will also transform our mass media. But we need to keep working-working on our readers.”

Yevhen KHODUN, Ukrainian correspondent, Deutsche Welle:

“I would like to say that when I make up my mind to find The Day in the city, the results of my search are as follows: I most often find the English-language edition, then the Russian one, and never the Ukrainian edition. In newspaper kiosks they tell me not to ask why because this is a dictate of the market. But I am encountering paradoxes that make me stop and think, “Who are these people who call themselves the ‘market’?

“The first paradox is a geographical one. If you look at the selection of newspapers in kiosks, you would think Ukraine has only one neighbor. The second paradox is of an economic nature. An annual subscription to a leading German-language newspaper costs 13,000 hryvnias. Russian newspapers are, naturally, much cheaper, even though there is little difference between the distances from Kharkiv to Zurich and from Kharkiv to Moscow. And the last paradox is a thematic one. OK, Russian newspapers are in demand in Ukraine, but which ones are available - Novaia Gazeta, where the late Anna Politkovskaya worked, or some others?

L.I.: “What you said is very sensible and well-grounded. I can only add that Ukrainians unfortunately are still not living their own life. We live by influences and fail to notice that in this way we are making our future rather non-independent. How do we sever this dependency? I believe that for some reasons today’s Ukraine is not ready to realize what the Ukrainian language means for the country. So I decided: let us also make the Russian-language edition of The Day in which we defend Ukrainian values.”

Below are the most vivid impressions from The Day’s Library Series readers’ conference in Kharkiv University.

Yevhen KHODUN, Ukrainian Deutsche Welle correspondent:

“I read The Day and its library primarily in order not to lose my English. I believe that listening to the BBC in English and reading the English-language edition of The Day means feeling you are in Europe. Moreover, I like the diversity and pointed topics as well as their serious treatment. Most importantly, the newspaper and its library reflect the lives of ordinary Ukrainians (as Ms. Ivshyna mentioned) in the past, today, and also projected into the future.”

Daria VOROBIOVA, fifth-year student, Department of Sociology:

“This was not my first encounter with Ms. Ivshyna, but I am always amazed that discussions with her bring not only satisfaction but also food for thought in connection with various important topics. When my fellow students and I met The Day’s editor in chief the first time, we noticed the same thing. When we were sharing our impressions with one another in private, all of us without exception agreed with the conclusion that the newspaper’s projects, such as its Library Series and photography exhibits are ahead of our time. This mission, one should note, is very important but not always gratifying.”

Oleksii KRYSENKO, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science:

“A year ago I had a chance to acquaint myself with the book Two Ruses. I immediately liked it after reading a few pages. Many of the half-forgotten historical topics suddenly began to sparkle with new colors and gave me a sense of pride in my Ukrainian origin, residence, and citizenship. I felt proud of being a descendant of those Ukrainians whose glorious deeds forever inscribed Ukraine’s name in the eternal book of history.

“The editor’s excellent idea to offer instead of one unified text a wide spectrum of what may be termed conceptual inquiries (historical and purely journalistic essays) turned the book into a coffee table encyclopedia of Ukrainian history. The cultural necessity of the project and its current political relevance are definitely its key features.

“The high-caliber intellectual mixture of historical narratives about Ukraine-Rus’, Soviet Ukraine, and modern Ukraine represents a true algorithm for comprehending Ukraine Incognita - a country that remains a historical mystery for many a generation of Ukrainians.

“A discussion with Ms. Ivshyna means several hours of intellectual satisfaction. Meetings of this kind are extremely important because they enable us to really discuss and understand burning issues of contemporary Ukrainian culture, politics, and education. Students’ active participation is the best evidence for the need to conduct similar roundtable discussions in the future.”