The launch of Oxana Pachliowska’s book Ave, Europa! generated a very special atmosphere that seldom observed during cultural events in Kyiv. People packed one of the halls of the Ukrainian House and sat and stood in the aisles for four hours. This was proof that there is a great demand for things intellectual among those who genuinely care for Ukraine (many people learned about the coming event from Den’s review of the book — see issues No. 236 and No. 3).
When a reporter of a leading TV channel said at a morning staff meeting that she wanted to cover the launch, she got a round of applause. The festive atmosphere during the launch was enhanced by the attendance of such intellectual giants as Ivan Dziuba, Borys Oliinyk, and Mykola Zhulynsky (the latter turned out an excellent emcee with his characteristic sense of humor). Next to the them the youth attending the event saw Pachliowska, the spiritual offspring of the shistdesiatnyky (Sixtiers).
Larysa IVSHYNA, editor in chief, Den’/The Day:
“This event serves to dispel a number of stereotypes, particularly that Ukrainians do not need to communicate with clever people. There are many TV channels here. Perhaps this will become a positive trend that will show that we have things to discuss. We have so many different ‘freedoms’ that I have a feeling that we have started discussing something truly important only today. This feeling is probably explained the lacking sense of general Ukrainian context.
“Since the book Ave, Europa! appeared in print before the New Year, this solved the problem of what to give clever people as a gift for the winter holidays. Den’ has published the impressions of people who were among the first to receive it (see issue No. 3).
“I found the article ‘Launch from the ruins of a space launching site’ so much interesting that I started making comparisons with what I thought back in 1992. I have always considered myself a nationally conscious individual, but I didn’t understand many things Oxana describes so naturally, despite the fact that we are about the same age.
“The technical intelligentsia-people who closely cooperated with their counterparts in the humanitarian field within the small cultural resistance groups in the 1960s-1970s — were local islands. Then totally different people with their own, different experience became involved in politics. Not all those [who have been active] in the post-Soviet period can be regarded as collaborators in Ukraine. This presents a very big problem. Things are simple for those countries that decided to disclose collaborators: they told some to go left, the rest — right, and thus made some initial, albeit painful, progress in this issue.
“In Ukraine, the crystals of normal people were scattered in various spheres, so how is one supposed to identify them now? I think that such books are like magnets that attract thinking people from various environments, demonstrating that they are getting closer to each other in their quest.
“We’re discussing the gas issue now. I know some people involved in the negotiating process. They say jokingly that when they go to Moscow for talks they leave as Russian liberals and return as Ukrainian nationalists. I gave some of them copies of Ave, Europa!, so they can see that there are humanitarians who can lend them a helping hand today.”
Yevheniia SOKHATSKA, Professor, Department for Ukrainian Literature and Comparative Studies, Ohiienko Kamianets-Podilsky National University:
Pachlowska’s book has appeared at the right time and is most welcome. This year is the year of Hetman Ivan Mazepa, according to the initiative put forward by The Day and the National Museum of Ukraine’s History.
In the free world (outside the Soviet empire) the Ukrainian diaspora designated 1959 as the year of Mazepa (1709-1959). Metropolitan Ilarion (aka Ivan Ohiienko), head of the Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church in Canada, ex-Minister of the Ukrainian National Republic, and a scholar of world renown, dedicated his poetic drama Rozpiatyi Mazepa (Mazepa crucified, 1961) to this date.
One of the reviewers, Dr. Volodymyr Levytsky, wrote that the author, “entered the most intimate corners of the great, and often incomprehensible, soul of the hetman, a student of the Western civilization, and revealed to us the Holy Truth of Ukraine’s history that had been concealed by Russia: Ukraine’s and Russia’s paths have completely parted” (Vira i kultura, Part 7 (91), 1961, p. 8). Mazepa’s main behest, according to the drama, was the idea of a sovereign country, released from the bear hug of Moscow and turned toward Europe. In Ohiienko’s work the hetman says:
Moscow has conquered all of Ukraine
Alongnside with the Church.
It was Bohdan who had pushed it
Into the deadly and vicious embrace...
I longed for Freedom here in Ukraine.
Three and a half centuries later, is Mazepa’s will a reality? Yes and no. Formally, we are not part of the EU, although mentally we are Europeans of which there is abundant proof: we want to have freedom of speech and a sense of national identity; we are striving for comfortable conditions in our state; we are trying to build relations with our neighbors in a rational way; and we manifest a tolerant attitude to the opposition.
Finally, there is the phenomenon of the Orange Revolution, this oasis of freedom, a manifestation of Ukrainians’ indestructible longing for freedom. However, miracles do not happen. Ukraine is not yet the country the Maidan protesters wanted it to be. A lot is being said about the abandonment of the revolutionary ideals. I don’t think this is so. No one has betrayed anyone: as before, Viktor Yushchenko is defending the Ukrainian values.
However, the government in general has been unable to accomplish the most important thing — significantly improve the financial situation of ordinary people and limit the rapacious appetite of the oligarchs (if only by way of high taxes). This has caused the suppressed feelings of resistance and mute anger.
Another major thing that has failed to take place is divesting the old elites of power. Here is what Pachlowska says on this issue (see chapter IV.2006 “Orange Ukraine: victory and risk”): “They are returning. These post-Communist rag dolls and papier-mache entities are leaping forward from the Communist Party’s old programs. For the umpteenth time they are seeking a favorable situation in order to rewrite Ukraine’s history alongside with the future.
“They want to rewrite the future and privatize it.
“They are returning, for they have been allowed to do so — because of illusions, ignorance, or vested interests. Whatever the causes were they are important. The history will clarify things one day. What is important today is that they have managed to return” (p. 482).
I have cited here only one of Pachlowska’s numerous programmatic theses that sound imperative. This speaks for the author’s deep concern. In this respect her writings are a vivid manifestation of the political and civic talent. She conveys her postulates (or advice) using lively, highly metaphorical language that abounds in maxims. Her articles are easy to read and remember. They must become desktop items primarily for young people and help them choose their path in life. Here is another slogan from Pachlowska: “The youth of this country has a historical right to be present in Europe.”
One of the distinct features of the book is its integrity and focus on one idea — the new, truly European Ukraine. Chapter I entitled “1991. Launch from the ruins of the space launching site” contains an important thesis: “We need to have maps of our losses so that we will finally grasp what and how much we have lost” (p. 33) Indeed! Then there will be no nostalgia and no skeptics about the Holodomor anniversaries. Instead, people will want to free themselves from the horrors of the past as soon as possible.
Pachlowska writes: “There is no other alternative anyway: either a long and winding road to Europe or a simple and short road to Russia. In the second scenario, we are facing slow but steady political, economic, social, and cultural degradation” (p. 627). Anyone who has carefully read the book will, no doubt, fully support the first option. This is precisely why the book is so valuable.
The author’s optimism is contagious: Ukraine must win the Western geopolitical game of chess, this strategic rational game (p. 630).
Of the two opposite meanings of the word ave (hail and farewell) I choose the first one — Hail, Europe!
Finally, I believe that this book authored by a talented, brilliant scholar, political scientist, and writer needs to be nominated for the Shevchenko Prize for Literature, Ukraine’s highest award in the field. The book deserves it.
Olha RESHETYLOVA, journalist:
The wisdom of a manager is not in the sharp mind, extensive knowledge, or extraordinary skills. Above all, his wisdom is in being ready to listen to clever people. It is hard to choose words and avoid cursing those Ukrainian officials who failed or refused to hear thinkers like Oxana Pachlowska in the 1990s and those are lending a deaf ear today. (This applies primarily to Vasyl Vovkun and Ivan Vakarchuk.)
The theory of cultural hegemony propounded by Antonio Gramsci, an Italian communist whose ideas were discarded by his comrades-in-arms, says that power is attained through the domination of one cultural platform over another, while the existing values are ruined and replaced with others. For example, the Bolsheviks carried out a revolution: they destroyed the institution of the church and the values professed by the intelligentsia. Instead, they proclaimed the cult of the proletarian culture, which was several degrees lower-but convenient. The imposition of cultural hegemony is hardly noticeable to the man in the street, but this process is efficient from the point of view of the carriers of this dominating culture. Unlike forced seizure of power, it does not meet with any special resistance. On the contrary, it pulls the population into the new cultural system, forcing it to blindly accept values that are often alien to its mentality.
However, a nation’s cultural hegemony may be used both for attack and defense. For the Ukrainian nation this is a must rather than an option. In the course of centuries, under pressure from other cultures, we have lost a lot — but not everything. At the same time, nearly every day we lose precious crumbs of our originality, i.e., we are losing time.
Ave, Europa! is a call to Ukrainians. If we fail to establish cultural communication with the world today and limit the Russian cultural field that is dominating the Ukrainian one (both on our territory and across the world), it will be too late tomorrow. Read Pachlowska!
Serhii HLUSHCHENKO, a contributor to The Day:
You have to be somebody in order to be heard. This is very important both for a country and for every individual. Oxana Pachlowska’s book Ave, Europa! is a landmark event because of its value as a integral and well-structured product. It contains not only widely acclaimed articles that have been carried by The Day and some other periodicals, but also presentations at various international forums and, of course, previously unpublished writings.
This is a book about chances: Ukraine’s chances, a chance of moving toward the West and a chance of going east. In the article “MIND will not comprehend Russia...” the author says that our Russian “brothers” believe that their most important goal is to carry out an informational conquest of Ukraine, and the current Russian government is simply voicing these ideas, which have been proclaimed long ago on various websites. For some reason Ukrainian intellectuals are not participating in these forums at all. One exception was in 2007 when Larysa Ivshyna replied to the questions asked by the readers of one of such sites — that’s all. This attitude creates problems for ourselves.
Now let us talk about a temporary chance. The piece “Orthodox pipeline on the Moon” was written in 2005 and it’s about the fact that you have to speak, now and here, about things that you cannot speak about. If you don’t, the situation will repeat itself, only in a worse form. This piece reads as if it were written today, in the light of the current events with Russia halting gas supplies to Ukraine and Europe.
In her book Pachlowska wanted to speak about Ukraine’s chance — not a temporary one, but a chance to return to where it previously was in terms of geopolitics, identity, and mentality.
Viktor PUSHKIN, director of the Institute for Humanitarian Issues at the National Mining University (Dnipropetrovsk):
In one of her interviews Oxana Pachlowska described herself in a very vivid and distinct way: I love the word volia (freedom or will), she said, because it conflates two concepts — moral discipline and freedom. These words hold the key to the character of this great thinker, prominent scholar, and brilliant journalist.
Her character exudes willpower, independence, an uncompromising stand, and, I would add, even toughness in defending her position and assessing detestable phenomena. At the same time, one can sense the hidden side of her nature: her sensitive, lyrical streak that makes her long for Motherland and the close ones.
Pachlowska has a lot in common with her mother Lina Kostenko, who is my favorite poet: moral disclipline, an understanding of the true value of freedom, and a desire for each one of us to shake off our inward slavery — without this Ukraine cannot liberate itself.
Pachlowska’s book contains a variety of works that are, nonetheless, united conceptually — these are reflections on Ukraine’s dramatic history, decades of lost opportunities, scattered resources, the nation’s unwanted intellectual potential, and the prospects for Ukrainian statehood. This book is a strict and fair diagnosis. The author adeptly points out the weak points of Ukraine’s present-day society and offers a comprehensive analysis of the cultural genealogy that has led to the current political situation in Ukraine.
The countries that willingly denounce and cheaply sell themselves, are not afraid of being humiliated, and, most importantly, do not have respect for their citizens will never be able to become part of Europe, i.e., join the circle of civilized countries, she writes. Whether you like it or nor, civilization begins with respect for a person, for their rights and needs, Pachlowska concludes.
These words need to be brought to the ears of influential Ukrainians, our self-styled elite. Pachlowska is right to point out that this ruling “elite” has managed to create a society without values and principles, which is neither capitalist nor socialist. In this society the law has no force and there are no rules.
Equally relevant is her observation that at least the rudiments of democracy, if created in Ukraine, could be the first step toward clear our relations with Russia of lies and rhetoric.
I would be insincere if I said that I subscribe to the author’s views on the full range of issues that she has touched upon. This includes the assessment of the so-called Orange Revolution, the nature of Ukraine-Russia relations in retrospect (do they always deserve a negative evaluation?), and the issue of the Russian language in present-day Ukraine (this problem does exist). However, this is exactly the strength of Pachlowska’s book that it stimulates a discussion and gives solid food for thought.
So, I am in no hurry to put her book on a shelf. It will remain on my writing desk. I will read and reread it, critically appraising what she says and, perhaps, changing my own views. Her fundamental work deserves this kind of approach.
Ihor PASICHNYK, professor, rector of Ostroh Academy:
I can envy Pachlowska in a good way — not because she lives in a prosperous European country but because she has the opportunity to work in an environment where an intellectual’s thoughts are respected (even if disagreed with), artificial hurdles are not set up on you way, and intellectuals do not have to rake their brains over Kafka-style absurdities that are handed down from above.
Judging from her book, Pachlowska believes that this, along with many other problems, is the hangover from the totalitarian regime. But Soviet totalitarianism did not appear out of the blue-it relied on many years of tradition, which is extremely difficult to overcome. Our Communist past and present-day Russia should not be blamed for all our problems. Some of our sincere patriots who denounce totalitarianism in every way have outdone the Communist system in this respect.
However, let us not talk about sad things. Pachlowska published a nice book. Yes, what she offers is a view from aside, from Europe, and essentially through European eyes. Not everything can be seen with these eyes. But this view is not only interesting — it is also very much needed so much so that the viewer is a person deeply concerned about Ukraine.
Oleksandr HAVRYLIUK, Associate Professor, Department of Contemporary History of Ukraine, Lesia Ukrainka Volyn National University:
The publication of this collection is the author’s another direct hit on the old, burning, and still unresolved issues in Ukraine’s sociocultural and political life, as well as its internal affairs and foreign relations. However, looking at our current developments and comparing them with Oxana Pachlowska’s reflections that date back to the turn of the millennium, we can say that history assigned her the role of Cassandra. However, consolation can be found in the fact that Ukrainians are still reluctant to believe her rather than refusing to do so, as was the case with her mythological prototype.
Pachlowska’s concerns in the 1980s and the 1990s are proved relevant by the current events in Ukraine. Out of a long series of problems that she has been emphasizing, let me single out the need to build a system of communications between Ukraine and the world. Here is our bitter experience: the Lublin-based collegium of Polish and Ukrainian universities was forced to downsize its operations owing to the lack of funding from the Ukrainian side, despite the promises made at the opening ceremony. We are also lacking Ukraine’s support for joint Ukrainian-Polish conferences.
An important theme that runs through the book is the task of fighting for free European youth in Ukraine. To this end we, university teachers, must present our history in an objective way. For many years it was being ruined by Russian imperialism and now it is being falsified by the Russian government and many Russian scholars. “It is only learned and absorbed history that can bring us catharsis through the discovery of the Other, mercy, and solidarity, giving us also a saved future.” It is unfortunate that the current volume does not contain Pachlowska’s article “Against the vampires of the past: the Holodomor and the shaping of historical memory in Ukrainian, Polish, and Russian cultures” from which the above quote was taken.
Congratulations to Oxana Pachlowska on her excellent book!
