Turning the pages back... March 22, 1989 (03/27/05)

Turning the pages back...

March 22, 1989

Sixteen years ago, literary critic Ivan Dzyuba, a former Soviet political prisoner, and three fellow intellectuals from Kyiv told more than 300 Ukrainian Americans gathered at Rutgers University in Newark, N.J., on March 22 about the effects of glasnost and perestroika in Ukraine.

The foursome spoke under the sponsorship of Rutgers University, as part of the 1989 Shevchenko Lecture Series that brought them first to Canada and then to the United States. Joining Mr. Dzyuba were historian Raisa Ivanchenko, poet Ihor Rymaruk and Dr. Mykola Zhulynsky, deputy director of the Institute of Literature at the Ukrainian SSR Academy of Sciences. The speakers touched on a variety of topics: the Ukrainian language issue, the ecological movement, blank spots in history, trends in literature and publishing, and, of course, the prospects for Ukraine's future.

Mr. Dzyuba, who was first to address the capacity crowd, spoke about the changes then under way in the USSR, focusing on Ukraine. He noted, first of all, that the situation in the Soviet Union was due not only to the person of Mikhail Gorbachev, but also to serious objective factors: the necessity for restructuring and a crisis in the economy; limitations placed on the cultural and educational spheres of life; and stagnation in ideology. All of this had affected the society. "The principal achievement of Gorbachev and his supporters," he said, "is that they realized the interrelationship of all spheres of life" - something previous leaders did not, choosing only to address pieces of the complete picture.

Turning to the situation in Ukraine, Mr. Dzyuba first focused on the language question, noting, "The Ukrainian language is in a state that is not worthy of such a large nation." He said the essence of glasnost "is that the people should know what is happening in politics, ecology, and the like, and should be aware of the problems." Then the people can take part in determining how the problems of their life will be dealt with, he explained.

He pointed out that in letters to publications, the Communist Party and the writers' union - tens of thousands of which are being sent by people from various regions of Ukraine, even those that were considered areas where the Ukrainian language had died - people are "expressing their profound concern about the state of the Ukrainian language."

Mr. Dzyuba went on to point out that "revitalization and renewal are evident in all spheres of culture in Ukraine." In art, exhibits of previously banned types of expression are now being held; in theater, experimental drama troupes are now being organized; in music, various composers' music is now being widely performed; in cinema, films not previously permitted are now being shown, he said.

Source: "Dzyuba, colleagues speak of perestroika's progress," by Roma Hadzewycz, The Ukrainian Weekly, April 2, 1989, Vol. LVII, No. 14.

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