UKRAINE AND UKRAINIANS IN THE WORLD: CHALLENDGES AND RESPONSES

Abstract

The article is devoted to current theoretical and practical issues directly related to the Russian-Ukrainian war. The author of the article aims to identify and research new Ukrainian studies ideas, concepts, and trends outlined by the authors of the project "Being in the World." This project was announced in early 2025 as part of a Ukrainian PEN focus group, and it uses the form of an intellectual essayist, traditional for Ukrainian culture. The current president of PEN Ukraine, philosopher and writer Volodymyr Yermolenko, formulated the main goal of the project as follows: "In seeking for the world to discover us, we also rediscover the world for ourselves. We seek recognition that the existence of the world is impossible without the existence of Ukraine."
The article notes several of the most important problems outlined in the project and worthy of further study. The first of these is that some “others” are capable, in principle, of learning from others’ experiences and understanding Ukraine and Ukrainians, while other “others” are absolutely incapable of doing so. Those Russians who design, build, and operate the missiles that hit Ukraine are talented, knowledgeable “other” individuals, but their culture (both personal and social) excludes the possibility of dialogue. Most project participants believe that the only effective tool for influencing such “others” is forceful resistance. This problem is related to another one, which has not yet been appreciated by researchers - "deafness" towards Ukraine, caused not only by the influence of the Kremlin, but also by the spread of "viruses" of neo-totalitarianism in the West.
In general, there are cultures that are permeated with totalitarian mythology, immanently infected with totalitarianism. Such mythology is a holistic system of explaining the world and programming the actions of both individuals and micro- and macrogroups. A special place in this context is occupied by the “renewed” Russian totalitarianism, or rashism. It spares no resources for imprinting its mythology, primarily anti-Ukrainian, in the world and in Ukraine.
Another significant problem outlined in the project is the inadequacy of the theoretical constructions that are fashionable in the West to the realities of the modern world. They are usually built without taking into account the experience of post-Soviet countries, and the newest totalitarian states and movements are viewed as a kind of "historical misunderstanding." The Ukrainian experience of understanding the realities of the modern world and the criticism of "postmodern" theoretical dogmas are also components of what Ukraine is able to offer the world for a more adequate understanding of the modern era.