The more becomes known about the bestiality of the Russian troops in Ukraine, the higher the number of voices indicating the co-responsibility of “Russian culture” for the Russian war crimes. Numerous artists, scholars, and intellectuals demand acknowledging the chauvinism of classical Russian literature from Pushkin to Brodsky, and indicting the role “the West” has played for decades, if not centuries, in continuously ignoring Russian cultural imperialism. At the same time, the established dominance of the Russian language and culture in western academic and cultural institutions remains unquestioned.

Michal Wasiucionek (New Europe College, Bucharest) and Aleksandra Konarzewska (University of Tübingen, Academics for Ukraine) are going to discuss the very recent voices that have appeared in this debate (see below) and reflect on their own experience in Western academia in this respect. The hope is that this discussion will provide an overview of significant texts, which have recently appeared on the matter, and that it will inspire further conversation.

Organizers: Academics for Ukraine

13.04.2022 (Wednesday), 18:30 CET
Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/94063205322?pwd=V1ljc3g0K3lIVnpwekNKaHZlMkp5UT09
Meeting-ID: 940 6320 5322
Kenncode: 756695
https://www.facebook.com/events/1631739037185863?ref=newsfeed

Texts:
Serhiy Zhadan: https://www.facebook.com/serhiy.zhadan/posts/531480725000949
Elena Pshenichnaya: https://www.pravda.com.ua/rus/columns/2022/04/3/7336884/
Oleksiy Panych: https://site.ua/oleksiy.panych/on-russian-culture-and-what-is-to-be-saved-there-i71j3k8
Michael Martens: https://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/literaturwissenschaftler-kritisiert-russische-arroganz-17913839.html
Lia Dostlieva, Andrii Dostliev: https://blokmagazine.com/not-all-criticism-is-russophobic-on-decolonial-approach-to-russian-culture/?fbclid=IwAR3EZ5OMQzDF4LD9qVNi-cuKtXluadDFNTjtAX23n_zybGEBBUqUFccrGKI
Susan Smith-Peter: https://jordanrussiacenter.org/news/what-do-scholars-of-russia-owe-ukraine-today/
Szczepan Twardoch: https://www.nzz.ch/feuilleton/ukraine-krieg-schluss-mit-westsplaining-ld.1676881?fbclid=IwAR1tPvGmU28PiScF2wXebLBfBNhTd0W_WUdrAxpKDSw5UHCSRine8mnJ9ow