
Confession of a poet after a year of war
If you think of yourself as a poet or a poetess and you are considering taking this path seriously, most likely sooner or later you will ask yourself this question: what can I do for poetry?
A “little man” is the alpha and omega of the “great Russian culture.” A little, despicable, cowardly, uncomplaining, gray, voiceless someone. Whatever and wherever they are, their ability to act is non-existent.
A burly, deaf and mute Gerasim obediently drowns the only soul that loves him. Looking into his dog’s eyes, he wraps a rope around a brick, makes a loop, and ties it round his neck… He betrays his dog and kills him. He could have taken him somewhere, sold him or given him away. He could have tied the dog to a tree in the forest and visited him every day, feeding and loving him. But no. Gerasim is a little man. He is too weak to resist the circumstances. But he is strong enough to kill.
A “trembling creature,” Raskolnikov decided to measure his largess and height with murder. A murder out of curiosity. He is a little man who believes that he has to kill another person to grow bigger.
A little man is an unknown soldier, a nameless hero, a missing warrior. Their name is legion. And they don’t have a name, at the same time, being fused together into the body of a machine that either devours or kills.
For many decades, the “great Russian culture” has been trying to make the world choke on its tears over the destiny of people who trembled with fear, doubt, and helplessness and committed crimes, unable to resist them.
A “little man” is the alpha and omega of the “great Russian culture.”
When the war broke out, my older children’s landlords called them and said, “Well, now that this happened, you can pay only for utilities, if you can afford it. It’s alright if you don’t pay the rent. We’re good people, after all.”
I wouldn’t call them good people before the war. The landlords, a mother and daughter, were “half-Vatniks[1].” Lots of people like them lived in Kyiv back in the day. Their opinion about what Moscovia did in 2014 fit the pattern of “it’s not so straightforward,” “we’re brotherly nations, after all,” and “we have no power over anything.” I am not sure if their opinion has changed now that the “brotherly nation” is skinning people alive out of curiosity or helplessness. I hope it has.
But even if it hasn’t. They called us to clarify what kind of people they were. Between the “little” (those who don’t decide anything) and the “good” (those capable of doing something), they chose the latter.
Ever since the war started, I have been using the crime series — about riot squads, police departments, and private detectives — as my sleeping pills. They lull me into confidence that good really wins over evil. They drew my attention to the fact that even the most cruel maniacs put the guns down; the filthiest bastards willingly cooperate with the investigation; and the most corrupt police officers admit their treason and often shield their colleagues from bullets to remain — at least for a little bit — good people.
“Are you a good person?” — this question, a key one in the negotiations with the criminals, creates a completely different mirror in which the civilization is looking. Not a nameless soldier, but Private Ryan who has to be saved, for he is his mother’s sole surviving son.
“Am I a good person?” is a question that teenagers and seniors, the rich and the poor, men and women keep asking. What’s more, even zombies from apocalyptic movies say, “I’m a good person,” refusing to bite a child.
This is the difference. The war between “the little” and “the good.” The ruthless, cruel, mindless, unscrupulous, filthy little people — and the good people. If the civilization shaped around the question “Am I a good person?” loses, Gerasim will consistently drown dogs, and Raskolnikov will methodically kill old people. A new Z-swastika, sanctified by the “great Russian culture,” will leave no chance for anything human. Anywhere in the world. White Fang will never find its Weedon Scott, and Private Ryan will be buried, unrecognized, in a mass grave.
[1] Vatnik — a political slur for people with post-Soviet mentality who feel nostalgic for Soviet times.
Author — Olena Stiazhkina, mhistorian, writer
Translator — Hanna Leliv
Illustrator — Victoria Boyko
Editor — Maryna Korchaka
Programme Directors — Julia Ovcharenko, Demyan Om
If you think of yourself as a poet or a poetess and you are considering taking this path seriously, most likely sooner or later you will ask yourself this question: what can I do for poetry?
Few weeks ago (mid January it was)* I took part in a writer’s conference with other international writers in Kolkata, India. It was a panel discussion addressing the topic of “Writing for the post-pandemic world”.
The morning begins with a final farewell to a soldier in our yard. He died in the war. A message about this appeared in the neighbor chat yesterday, indicating the building number and the entrance. High-rise buildings, just like low-rise ones, can’t avoid loss in wartime. There are more than 800 apartments in our building. Is there at least one unaffected by the war?
Knowledge Domains and Keywords
Philosophy
Political Philosophy
Philosophy & Literature
Social Philosophy
Philosophy of Mind
Philosophy of Music
Philosophy of Sport
African Philosophy
Arab Philosophy
Asian Philosophy
Latin American Philosophy
Western Philosophy
Ethos Pathos Logos
Ethics
Aesthetics
Somaesthetics
Universal Values
Natural Rights
Justice
Problem of Evil
Thinking
Bildung
Health
Wellbeing
Emergentism
Emergence
Complexity
Antifragility
Metamodernity
Epistemology
Sociology of philosophy
Interdisciplinarity
Improvisation
Futures studies
Futurology
Foresight
Social science
Sociocultural Anthropology
Sociocultural Evolution
Social Psychology
Community Psychology
Cognitive Psychology
Soft Law
Democracy
Meritocracy
Polithea
Integral Theory
Social Identity Theory
The Spiral of Silence Theory
Education Management
Liberal arts education
Edutainment
Enlightenment
Economics
Creative economy
Project Management
Program Management
Social Entrepreneurship
Design Thinking
Philology
Linguistics
Etymology
Neology
Narratology
Writing
Human Ecology
Globalization
Urban Studies
Environment
History
Intellectual History
Ethnography
Ethnology
Communication Science
Social Capital
Art of Communication
Cross-cultural сommunication
Communication Management
Humour Studies
Програми Культурного Хабу реалізуються завдяки потужності та обороноздатності Збройних Сил України, через волю, професійну і фінансову участь наших мемберів та інституційних партнерів з 2022 року: European Cultural Foundation, MitOst e.V., BBK Landesverband Bayern e.V., Київської Бієнале.
Ми також глибоко вдячні всім тим колегам — культурним дипломатам — із ким ще не знайомі особисто, але відчуваємо та цінуємо вплив вашої праці.
The programmes of the Cultural Hub are being implemented thanks to the power and defense capacity of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, through the will, professional and financial participation of our members, as well as institutional partners since 2022: European Cultural Foundation, MitOst e.V., BBK Landesverband Bayern e.V., and Kyiv Biennial.
We’re also deeply grateful to all those colleagues — cultural diplomats — who we don’t know personally so far, but we feel and appreciate the impact of your work.
MENU
FOLLOW US
CONTACT US
iculturalbusinesshub@gmail.com
open.university.u@gmail.com
Ukraine, Kyiv-Poltava-Chercasy-Ivano-Frankivsk-Lviv
Austria, Vienna
Netherlands, Amsterdam
© 2009 Improvisators Movement Jazz For Streets
© 2014 I Coworking Hub, I Business Incubator
© 2018 I Cultural Business Hub
© 2009-2023 this site is a copyright and trademark of
Cultural Business Education Hub, Non-Governmental Organization,
Nonprofit Institution, independent think tank