The Day’s Library Series already numbers five books, and none of the publications have gone unnoticed. This was born out at a meeting with well-known scholars, who are members of the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences: apparently some people in the audience were already familiar with the newspaper’s book projects, while others were prepared to express their views on each of the books.
Presenting historical literature in a packed conference room at the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences was a great honor for our newspaper. The conference participants spoke candidly and inspiringly. The Day’s journalists saw with their own eyes that the “Ukraina Incognita” project has aroused great interest among scholars.
“Our books are mainly intended for those who do not have a firm grasp of the history of Ukraine,” said the Den/The Day editor-in-chief Larysa Ivshyna. “I can remember the small ‘emasculated’ manual that we were offered in school. We have to learn the true history of our country from our relatives’ stories and all kinds of literature. ‘Ukraina Incognita’ is intended for those who wish to reread and reconsider the history of their people.”
Why does the newspaper need this series? Will these books find their way to libraries? Is anybody impeding the publication of The Day’s books? These are some of the questions that the academics posed to Mrs. Ivshyna. “I wouldn’t say there are any impediments, nor has there been any concrete criticism. Go on playing the game, so to speak. We are grateful to those who responded and helped us, by this I mean historians and other scholars,” Mrs. Ivshyna noted.
“Why did we choose to publish historical books? I think that if you can, you must do things. Besides, it is important to raise the standards of Ukrainian journalism. Journalists are exposed to all kinds of temptations — career-related, political, and financial, but I would like journalists to work for society. We cannot wait for someone else to do this job.”
The editor-in-chief has been receiving messages from readers of the Russian site Inosmi.ru with questions, like “How on earth could Kyiv, ‘the mother of all Russian cities,’ become the capital of Ukraine?” and 240 other questions on the “Ukrainian problem” in Russia. According to Mrs. Ivshyna, the people who ask these kinds of questions in Russia or Ukraine feel a dire need to reread history. “And we can ‘rewrite’ it without changing facts by simply adding a new, modern, context to them,” she explained. “The Ukrainian press must draw the public’s attention to this. The only prerequisite is intellectual honesty.”
Vasyl KREMEN, President, Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Ukraine
“I have a positive attitude to The Day’s action. It takes definite courage to do this because an article that a reader will read and quickly forget is one thing. A book is something quite different: it shapes certain ideas, allows the reader to form a picture of the newspaper and its attitudes, as well as the problems that journalists are tackling in a comprehensive and purposeful manner. This is an extremely successful and rational project befitting such an intellectual publication as The Day.”
Vasyl TKACHENKO, Higher School Institute:
“Tellingly, these books are devoid of ‘hunting for enemies.’ They are in fact an attempt to find one’s soul. I would add to them the Shakespearean epigraph: ‘ The time is out of joint.’ This is what has happened in Ukraine now. This kind of literature can help every Ukrainian know his political and historical figures. Only then will we renew those lost time linkages. We bear responsibility for each day of the past and the future, for each action and its consequences.
Some people say the national idea has not worked in Ukraine. But maybe we have not yet understood what a national idea is. For instance, the Belarusians have a manual entitled Basic Ideology of the Belarusian State. In other words, all you have to do is read the book, and you get the picture. This won’t do in Ukraine. Our national idea should consist of who we were, who we are, and who we are striving to be. To sum up, these books are an attempt to shape the Ukrainian national idea and put it across to the reader.”
Vitaliy PYLYPCHUK, Institute of Pedagogy and the Psychology of Vocational Education:
“It’s enough to read at least the forewords to all the books in The Day’s Library Series to feel pride in our culture and our state. Only language can save our state. Undoubtedly, culture must reach the broad masses via a circle of specially trained persons. And we do have such experts! This is why our people understand classical literature written in a superior Ukrainian; this is why The Day’s books are in demand.”
Pavla ROHOVA, director of the Sukhomlynsky State Scholarly and Pedagogical Library:
“This is a book about people who possess true information about Ukrainian history. Your books have long been noticed abroad, and the project itself is also significant because it attracts young people who must read. These books should be available in all libraries. We would like to organize conferences and presentations with The Day and attract as many young people as possible.”
Serhiy MAKSYMENKO, director, Institute of Psychology:
“The books project a personality as the bearer of spirituality; they de-colonize, so to speak, our own minds and Russian minds from prejudices and superstitions of the recent past. They provide a key to understanding the personality. It is always difficult to put the right emphasis in history, unlike in other disciplines, and to properly classify the historical past. Yet The Day’s books have succeeded in doing this: you can clearly see what is alien and what is ours, where is East and where is West. This is a key for understanding people, and besides schools, universities, and libraries, every educated person should have this key.”
Ivan BEKH, director, Institute on the Problems of Upbringing; full member of the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences, Ukraine:
“Do we have to idealize Kyivan Rus?” The Slavs have always suffered from three essential shortcomings: they are blase, weak-willed, and never stick to their place. Ukrainian periodicals are searching for and must find the point of departure for Ukrainian problems as such. For instance, psychology knows a lot of definitions for personality. We sometimes joke: are there so many personalities? It would definitely be a good idea in the context of such projects if academics as well as journalists took up history as well as the psychology of Ukrainian history.”
Mykola MYKHALCHENKO, Higher School Institute:
“The Day is read by the most serious segment of society. This is why the newspaper pursues a policy of enlightenment. While we are arguing with the Russians (we will never persuade them), these books should be translated and sent free of charge to Russian libraries.”
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The two-hour conference also spotlighted a different kind of interest. The scholars suggested closer cooperation with The Day, e.g., to organize theme-oriented readings, debates, and meetings. As the conference drew to a close, Mrs. Ivshyna presented the Sukhomlynsky State Scholarly and Pedagogical Library with a complete set of The Day’s books. Our newspaper was also the recipient of gifts. Professor Kremen presented The Day with the two-volume work Illustrious Figures of Ukrainian Pedagogy. Like Ukraina Incognita, this textbook looks at history from a new angle — as a unity of creative work and the history-teaching process of leading figures from the princely and Cossack eras to the present day.
