Larysa Ivshyna met Ostroh Academy students on the days when the Ukrainians celebrate Sobornist (Unity) Day. It is a good and time-tested tradition. The newspaper and the academy have not communicated in this format for a year now. Naturally, there have been such things as texts, supported initiatives, and an advanced training course for academy students at the Summer School of Journalism, but a lot of topical issues still remained undiscussed. For this reason, the students asked Ms. Ivshyna about thirty questions.
Besides, it was the first meeting after Ihor Pasichnyk had been reelected as university rector.
“I would like to congratulate all the Ostroh Academy students and teachers on having Mr. Pasichnyk as rector again. I wish him to further develop his talents for the benefit of the university so that you occupied a prominent place on the educational map of not only Ukraine. We share your jubilation,” Ms. Ivshyna said. After congratulating Mr. Pasichnyk, the Den/The Day’s editor-in-chief handed him and the pro-rector, a brilliant author, Petro Kraliuk, some books, albums, and brand scarves “Makov & Pustovit towards the 15th Anniversary of the Newspaper Den.”
On their part, the students uncorked a surprise on Ms. Ivshyna – a chronicle of the university-newspaper friendship in photographs. There are really a lot of reminiscences on both sides, such as sessions of the Ostroh Club of Free Intellectual Youth Contacts, the launch of the Den/The Day’s Library in Ostroh, and dozens of graduates of the Summer School of Journalism. The exchange of ideas, initiatives, and inspiration has lasted for more than ten years. In terms of comparison, it makes a half of the renewed Ostroh Academy’s modern history.
The concepts of historical memory and civil stand were the most discussed themes during the four hour-long dialog, because The Day believes that a history that lasts for a thousand years is a rather heavy load and a great responsibility. Therefore, we should be able to raise it. The process can be started with “raising” the book The Power of the Soft Sign, or The Return of Rus’ Truth, which has revealed the unexpected in Ukrainian society, according to Larysa Ivshyna. The print-run of 2,000 of thick 800-page books was sold out in a couple of months, and the second one has already been publishing. And though it was the first time the book was presented at the university, many students turned out to be familiar with it already and joined the discussion of some materials.
2012 is the year of the ancient Ukrainian history at Ostroh Academy. The university offered celebrating the 1,160th anniversary of Ukrainian statehood, and this initiative was actively supported by The Day. And the students joined discussions of the paper’s initiative to call 2012 The Sandarmokh List Year.
The students who study journalism were the most active during the conversation, and since this major has been added quite recently, they are the ones who need the proper upbringing to form an independent journalistic view of the world. As a result, they were interested in the fates of those, who raised the plank in their future profession, particularly in James Mace’s personality.
It would be impossible to fully describe the mood of the meeting without mentioning the special atmosphere of trust and mutual interest that is typical for such conversations. Though afterwards always comes the time for thinking through them and self-cultivation. By the way, one of the freshmen who studies journalism said that she filled six pages in her notebook, trying to put down all of Ivshyna’s thoughts that seemed important to her. Now the time has come to give them some thought and make them part of her own life philosophy.
We offer only a small part of the conversation.
Yulia YARUCHYK, third-year student of the Journalism and Literary Studies Department:
“The Day has published an article by Yaroslava Francesca Barbieri about her participation in Canadian and Ukrainian parliament program. This program was created for Ukrainians solely, but it is extremely strange that very few people are familiar with it in Ukraine. The program lets young Ukrainians, who are full of initiative, study the real mechanisms of democracy. Why would not they create a similar program, but based on Ukrainian parliament? Why is our democracy more important for Canada than for us?”
Larysa IVSHYNA: “Once I had an opportunity to talk to the volunteers of a program of such kind – it provided youth training at the Verkhovna Rada committees. Frankly speaking, I do not know how useful it was for young people, because at this stage of its existence, our parliament can teach good things as well as bad ones. This program was financed by the US taxpayers, and this long-lasting grant was over last year. It still remains unclear if the program will be continued. The truth is that a broader sense lies beneath it: we are still not used to the high standards of education. For example, at the beginning of his career, Nursultan Nazarbaev sent large groups of young people to study in the Western countries. After coming back they were setting the standards in certain areas. This clearly implies that a large number of young people with a different mindset is required for the country’s development. And the problem with Ukraine is different (and this is directly related to what Francesca has written in her article): when Ukrainians are coming back home with a high level of preparation, they are not quite sure which area of life they can adapt to. Because the country needs to change and be ready to accept them, for them to become involved in the process. The Day published an article last week: ‘How can Ukraine be integrated into worldwide intellectual processes?’ (The Day, No. 4, January 26, 2012). It is about the ambitious youth, who studied and were trained in France, Norway, and the US, and they say they have been educated in a proper way abroad, but here they have to break their behavior patterns and try to adapt to our shady schemes.
“Unfortunately, during the 20 years of Ukraine’s independence, its key areas have not been developing. The situation is quite opposite. Of course, there are ‘intellect islands,’ but for the most part they are supported by separate individuals, and those spheres that were left unattended, degraded rapidly. Today we cannot talk about our parliament the way we want to. I was a parliament reporter at the beginning of the 1990s myself, and I know that there were real MPs in Verkhovna Rada, there were people with principles. There were times when they voted only after real debates. Degradation of parliamentarism we are facing now, is a result of all the destructive concepts that were applied in Ukraine. This problem has eaten into our society very deep, therefore I think it will not be easy to radically change the situation.”
Serhii YEVTUSHOK, first-year student of the Political Science Department:
“The Day has announced 2012 to be the Sandarmokh List Year. How did you come up with this idea? Why was this name chosen?”
L.I.: “The Sandarmokh List Year is our proposition to the society. Of course, it does not automatically imply that the society reacted instantly and supported us. Besides all the rest, we have a serious communication problem in our country, I have to face it all the time. When the first book (Ukraina Incognita) of The Day’s Library was released, I was absolutely sure that my colleagues will not spread the information about the release, and I will need to tour Ukraine for a couple of times to tell Ukraine about it. And that is the way it happened. Such disappointing attitude is common for all kinds of other initiatives. Every single time I am stricken by how insensitive people are to what is the most important, to the things we all need desperately. Our newspaper jointly with Ostroh Academy announced 2010 to be Year of Ostroh Princes. We wrote about it all the time, had numerous actions to support it. Can you imagine, there are regions in Ukraine where nobody even heard of Ostroh princes! And it is thanks to our initiative that many people have finally learned about them. And even more would learn, if mass media joined in. Then jointly with the National Museum of History of Ukraine we announced the Year of Ivan Mazepa, and that was back in the time when this persona was treated in a different way than it is now. And the end of 2009 The Day nominated Anatolii Kvasiuk, the restorer of Kholm Icon of The Holy Virgin, the Person of the Year. This icon is kept at the Volyn Museum of Icon. When I came there with friends of mine, whose children studied in Great Britain or Switzerland, they did not even know, what this icon can be compared to from the Louvre, for example. And this is a sign of Ukrainian’s lack of confidence. We are not convinced that we are the owners of the unique valuables, because the other, routine side of our life denies our wealth. And nobody carried these thoughts and the information about Anatolii Kvasiuk, who became the Person of the Year according to The Day, to people as well. What is the nature of this phenomenon? I think, the reason for it is our ‘swamp’ consciousness, that does not let people get out of the box of primitive topics and look at themselves in a worldwide context. Ukrainian journalism is so stuck in its development, that there are still discussions if the journalist should have a civic stand of their own, or not. I am absolutely convinced that Ukraine needs a civic stand badly, especially now.
“And this is what our 2012 action is about, the Sandarmokh List. Why could Ukraine not revive quickly after 1991? It should be realized that the best of the intellectuals of those times were murdered in Sandarmokh in 1937. The lesson is still not learned. The Sandarmokh List is a sign of loss caused by the totalitarian regime. We are talking not only about those, who died in that ravine, but about the 75 years of Great Terror in general. And we are not yet though its consequences. That is the reason why the process of development is not happening the way we would want it to. We have not yet listened enough to our grandparents, even though they are the carriers of important scenarios, live memory, and live history. And the Ukraina Incognita website was created to make the young active users of the web closer to understanding of our history. Modern world is versatile, and first of all Ukrainians need to think through the events of the 20th century. When reading the recent pre-election article by Putin, we see that Russia is on the path that The Day recommended to Ukraine at some point of time. For example, we polled our smart people about the top 10 of the books they cannot imagine their life without. It was not about the rating, but about directions in modern information space. And Putin has just expressed an idea to make a list of a hundred books for the whole Russia. This is a right decision. Ukraine needs to cultivate our precious heritage as well. We must make a list of antitotalitarian and anti-Stalin literature of the 20th century. It is not necessary for schools or universities to include it in their programs. But a young person who wants to progress, needs to know where these books can be found and what they are needed for. Personally, I had to feel my way to do some important things in my life. Let us say, I read the article ‘Moscow, Maroseika’ by George Shevelov very late. It was written in 1954 in Boston, and it was Volodymyr Panchenko, who turned our attention to it. The article is extremely valuable. Half a century ago Shevelov called three things that would help to realize Ukrainian problems: Moscow, Kochubei-style mentality, and provincialism. We still cannot figure out the nature of our attraction to Russia. Maybe, the leftovers of the imperial Kyivan Rus’ citizens mindset are in our way of setting free from this attraction? While reading Shevelov’s article, I was the most impressed by his thought, that Ukrainian kochubeis won the Battle of Poltava for Peter I. And his victory was complete when he cut Ukraine off from Europe and culture. Do modern ‘fights for association’ do not demonstrate how important it is for our competitors to separate Ukraine from the rest of the world?
“This is what our initiatives are really about. The same about the Sandarmokh List, it means much more than it seems at first sight. It is not some remote history, but a history of the problems that were not resolved in the past. And I think that Ostroh students must join this action in their way too, by attending conferences, schools, communicate more, so that our memory remained in the active phase.
“The fight for Stalin monument in Zaporizhia made me think of the unsolved problems of the 1920s. They are the reason why confused youth joins the Communist Party, which is basically proclaiming ‘Let’s go back to Moscow!’ And this slogan is miraculously coinciding with Putin’s program,which he does not seem to hide, and in which he basically says, that Ukraine has to be in the Eurasian Union by 2015. And all our politicians and journalists pretend that they have not noticed, read, or saw anything like that.
“The position of journalists is quite symptomatic. They say, civic stand is not required, and we need to be ‘tolerant.’ They say they have been taught to respect opposite points of view. So, here are two opposite points for you: should the sovereign state of Ukraine exist, or not.”
Tetiana MAIANTSEVA, first-year student of Psychology Department:
“President Medvedev announced 2012 the Year of History in Russia, so there is an intention to celebrate the 1,150th anniversary of the Russian statehood. Do you think we should react to this initiative of the Russian power, for there is an opinion that Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus should celebrate this event together?”
L.I.: “I think that we should invite Ukraine’s president to Ostroh Academy and explain him once again our idea concerning the celebration of the 1,160th anniversary of the Ukrainian statehood. Perhaps, there has been no time and no person to tell him about this idea, taking into consideration the fact that the humanitarian concept has not been formed yet. In my opinion, the president would be surprised to hear about your desire to communicate with him. Historical topics need way more time than oil, gas, and pipelines, because the people’s energy is not simply beautiful words, but everything that gives real strength to those who rely on it. The president cannot be a good leader of the country unless he has some notion of the ‘energy reserve’ of our history.”
Lesia KHOMIAK, first-year student of Journalism Literary Studies Department:
“Olha Reshetylova, a journalist with The Day, has been our teacher. She told us you know what will be actual the day after tomorrow and what people want to see on the newspaper’s pages. Please, share this secret with us, the beginning journalists.”
L.I.: “Over the 20 years of complete foam people have somewhat lost their taste guidelines. However, I am sure that the modern reader will turn back to the healthy norm and will appreciate everything that exalts the man. It will be easy to convert, it will fit the level of the intellectual circles over the world. You will not differ from the world renowned higher educational establishments, if you set such a standard before you. You have to be full of self-confidence. Of course, you may use some tools in this. Recently, for example, the International Institute of Management, with Vitalii Haiduk’s assistance has implemented a unique computer platform for studying and the second platform will be opened before long in Vinnytsia with the assistance of the Oleksandr Dombrovsky Institute of Societal Development. Owing to the possibility of online lecturing they have an intention to invite professors from various corners of the world for reading lectures. We cannot be waiting till the whole country gets mature and reaches a certain level, understanding of some key things. We should develop the intelligent, patriotic, and conscientous youth, who studies not just to leave its homeland and have no obligations before it afterwards, but use their studies abroad to help their country adapt to the present-day world. The youth that will keep this level will be modern today and decades ahead.”
Anna VAKULENKO, fifth-year student of Documentation and Information Department:
“First of all I want to thank you for every issue of Den, especially the New Year’s one. It has become a tradition for my parents to exam me after I read the newspaper, to make sure that I read it attentively. Today we have spoken about George Shevelov’s article ‘Moscow, Maroseika’ and your commentary on this publication, ‘On the value of abstract thinking.’ I have held a smalle experiment. First I handed out the newspapers in my dormitory house, in order to discuss it later with friends, and then publish the articles on Facebook. Two people responded to my post: a regular reader of Den from Zaporizhia Serhii Hlushchenko and US veteran Roman Mats. It was very gratifying to know that people who have already lived through the larger parts of their life take so much care for the destiny of their country. Our youth is not so actively reacting to the attenpts to involve it in the discussion. Do you know the reason?”
L.I.: “In the column you’ve just mentioned I write that we have not just been translating the events of the past 15 years. We have been creating our country. In this process I have made an amazing discovery: we do have a cohort of intellectuals in respectful age, who still remain young. Amosov once said, ‘Intellect never gets old.’ Physically young generation is not always young spiritually. Far from everyone succeeds in reaching the sources that nourish really elite representatives of the Ukrainian people. We should understand why and by what means they have been able to preserve the clarity of mind and cheerfulness of spirit. I always recommend the journalists to find and read the texts of Yevhen Hrytsiak, the leader of the Norilsk uprising, about who The Day has been written several times. In absolutely impossible conditions even for survival he managed to develop, to head an uprising. When he was serving his term in a cell, he learned English on his own and was practising yoga. And he supported himself by those means. At the same time, neither journalists, nor politicians have even come up with an idea to simply go and look at Yevhen Hrytsiak, at the strength of spirit which made him a hero both for Ukrainians, and Russians, as well as representatives of other nations, who were political prisoners of the concentration camps.
“Of course, not everyone moves from the level of usual contemplations to the level of ‘peeping over the horizon,’ but this way or another, we should try to persuade everyone to make at least the tiniest steps in this direction. And after training the intellect and soul will seek an active action.”
Iryna BROKH, second-year student of Journalism and Literary Studies Department:
“Many Ukraine-born people implemented cultural expansion in Russia, practically developing it. That was Feofan Prokopovych, Mykola Hohol... But how should we treat these people, as national heroes or traitors?”
L.I.: “We should take everything of our own, include it in our field of education, study it, take interest in it, and try to understand. You cannot just label and consider that the person is ours, having no knowledge about this person and taking no interest in him. It is hard to understand the processes of that time. We are speaking about different systems. Shevelov suggested a fresh view on this topic. Prokopovych’s activity, for example, on various stages can be assessed quite differently. Those people had a different understanding of their activity. Maybe they wanted to take control of the situation, in other words, to head the Moscow processes, but they did not succeed. We don’t understand to the full the meaning of this ‘historical puzzle.’ At external likelihood, it is hard to imagine peoples that would differ more than we and Russians. If we understood this difference, our attitude to Russians would have been much better. Yet it does not mean that they would treat us better. In Soviet times we were separated by very shaky partitions. And now we are left face-to-face with the Soviet autocracy. But since our politicians have no time for this, Ukraine is fatally losing time again, while Russia is coming back to its usual work, ‘gathering territories.’ Unfortunately, the opposition’s meeting on the Unity Day proved the same thing, the politicians often are very narrow-sighted: none of them mentioned Putin’s ‘program’ article and the threats Ukraine is facing in this regard.”
Olha SHKRIBLIAK, second-year student of Political Studies and Information Management Department:
“In your article ‘On the concrete value of abstract thinking’ you quote a foreign diplomat who said that in his opinion the last intelligent Ukrainian ruler was Yaroslav the Wise. Many people after him made mistakes. In your opinion, is there a person among the Ukrainian politicians who could become the next wise ruler of Ukraine?”
L.I.: “The Ukrainian history is unique because relying on it we understand how much there is left to do to make Ukraine take a decent place in the world. Europe does not see us only because we have not yet explained our history to ourselves. Fortunately, the Ukrainians were saved by the family memory, which has preserved the Ukrainian history in mycrochrystals. Frequently a person who understands and intuitively feels his history (not just knows it perfectly) can save the people, which has found itself at the edge of an abyss, on a branch. But when the present-time opposition tries to take us from this branch, the question arises: will we be able to fly or fall into the abyss. Does anyone in the opposition ever think what are the basic questions, which should serve the groundwork for the power? Do they like Bolsheviks want their government to suffer a defeat in the war, including the information warfare. These questions are extremely important for finding out from what bottom will that Other man arise, who is going to become the wise ruler. Ten Heracleses and thousand Sisyphuses are needed to take him up from such bottom. The main thing is that this personality should have a daring way of thinking. And the lack of other reserves can be filled by the people.”
Lina TYMOSHCHUK, third-year student of Romance and Germanic languages Department:
“Above all, I want to thank the newspaper Den for appreciating history and preventing it from being falsified. In particular, this year two roundtables have been held dedicated to the topic of de-Stalinization, reconsideration, and thinking over the historical events. The project ‘Ukraina Incognita’ gives us a brand new view on history. I wonder, what was the society’s reaction to these projects?”
L.I.: “I always look for partners in all milieus. There is no sense to bang your head against a brick wall, when there is an open door nearby. Speaking about history in advance, we should all understand that is is our own business. We cannot be waiting without end until the power changes. There is no ideal power that would come and right away suggest something genius, give grants, award, and praise. We should feel inner motivation. Recently we have received a letter from an Odesa teacher, who teaches foreign students Ukrainian history based on our publications, including the English-language editions. Indeed, where are they going to find an English version of Ukraine’s history which would be falsified? On the eve of the 15th anniversary of my being in office of Den’s editor-in-chief, I was asked, ‘What do you think, is Den an opposition newspaper?’ And I replied, ‘We are more than an opposition newspaper, our newspaper is a quality alternative.’ This is my understanding of journalism Ukraine needs today.”
