Ukrainian PEN president: Russian culture needs a new critical approach

LSM.lv has published an interview with Ukrainian philosopher and essayist Volodymyr Yermolenko, who heads Ukraine's PEN centre. The conversation touches on several themes linking culture to the region's geopolitical situation.

One of the central topics is how Russian culture and literature — consciously or unconsciously — may serve as a foundation or even a justification for Russia's expansionist ambitions. In the interview, Yermolenko argues that a new, more critical approach to Russian culture is needed, rather than its traditional, uncritical reception.

Regional cooperation

The second part of the conversation is devoted to security matters — specifically, to what extent closer cooperation among the Nordic countries, the Baltic states and the Black Sea region could help protect Eastern Europe from renewed Russian attempts to restore its influence, referred to as reimperialization.

Life near the border

The interview also addresses what would be valuable for people in Latvia to know about everyday Ukrainian life in areas close to the front line or the state border — both regarding people's psychological state and experiences under wartime conditions, and the material circumstances in which they live.

Yermolenko is a well-known Ukrainian thinker and public intellectual who actively takes part in international discussions on the role culture and historical understanding play in the context of war and peace.