About russian literature, culture and what they have to do with the genocide of Ukrainians
Author: Альона Шевченко
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Sorry but no, the 🇷🇺 literature is really not essential in understanding man. The nature of the "mysterious 🇷🇺 soul" can be seen in #Mariupol these days💔
🇺🇦 Instead I invite everyone to register for this Ukrainian Culture & Literature course: twitter.com/Ukr_Institute/…
@cryptodrftng I totally get why, but let's not claim gold is tin from now on, as our emotions tell us so. There is gold in the Russian classics, which means they aren't Russia's anymore, they've become and go on being the world's. It's art essential in understanding man, still true today. 1/
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Pushkin doesn't need putin to breed monsters, btw. His "Poltava" and multiple other "masterpieces" glorify 🇷🇺 imperialism. ⚡ Ukraine has its own unique culture and has produced plenty of literature for us to read and promote ⚡ We should focus on that.
@cryptodrftng Even if Putin were a direct family descendant of Pushkin, it doesn't make the poet a breeder of monsters. He remains The Poet and will never be soiled by today's spilt blood and awful atrocities. Goethe, even Wagner will never be soiled by Hitler's and his many, many accolites. 2
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I've read the vast majority of what's considered "classical russian literature". I read "Crime & Punishment" when I was 13.
I will never read a russian book again. Not reading imperialist russian literature is the least everyone can and should do.
@cryptodrftng i wouldn't want you to miss my point. Have you read anything by Dostoevsky?
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Over 350 of Ukraine’s cultural sites have already been destroyed or damaged by the genocidal russian invasion. If it's Pushkin that you are worrying about right now - that's sad.
If you want to discover 🇺🇦 culture instead - welcome to @Ukraine_DAO www.notion.so: Ukrainian Culture - Ukraine DAO
Here's what "russian culture" looks like - erasing everything Ukranian out of existence the moment they have a chance to. And we should read Pushkin? LOL.
"You are too radical," "You are repressing political parties," we heard when doing decommunization and banning a communist party after Maydan. I really look forward to precious expert advice how we should protect russian culture & language after the victory. Meanwhile in #Kherson https://t.co/zmmu5nSeB2
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Here is another example of "russian culture". We were doing great without it and really can't wait for our Armed Forces to help it get the hell out of Ukraine ASAP. It's ugly.
A Ukrainian refugee in the UK says she recognises items apparently looted from her house sitting on top of a Russian tank in a recent photo.
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Alina Koreniuk says the box in the photo contains a new boiler she planned to install before the war started.
https://t.co/sEAb5xFCaX https://t.co/Sst3fPGKmB
What strikes at the depth of human (not "russian") soul:
💔 bombed maternity hospital in Mariupol 💔 children raped by ruscists to death 💔 mass graves with thousands of civilians.
What doesn't:
❌ Dostoevsky.
@cryptodrftng If his work doesn't strike at the depts of human (not "Russian") soul, I don't know what does. I'm talking about Universals here, not about Russian anything. The moment a Russian author becomes Universal, he's no longer "some Russian author", he's studied and read the world over.
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"Crime and Punishment" is literally about a young loser who hasn't achieved anything in life killing an old woman and stealing her purse. Reminds you of anything?
Sorry to break it to you, but Ukranian literature has much cooler stuff to read 🤯 I know, shocking stuff!
Here I am being expected to care about the aggressor's feelings while russia is destroying pretty much everything and everyone who is dear to me in life.
Normalisation of russian imperialism and exceptionalism is a core element of "russian culture" 👌
@cryptodrftng "The rapists were Russian. Therefore all Russians are rapists." Is that your thinking?
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I am saying that as a russian (as well as 🇺🇦) speaking Ukrainian from 🇺🇦 Ukraine, I am SICKENED that the same nation that carried out the Holodomor didn't even wait a 100 years before it came back to do the same thing to us.
@cryptodrftng You mean to say there are no Ukrainian monsters in history? Now wait a goddamned minute. Treblinka was manned with Ukrainian guards that machine gunned railway cars with 200 people per car. Should I ban UA culture because of that? What in God's name are you talking about.
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To make things even more disgusting, they used the word "genocide" and came up with a fake narrative that russian speakers were being persecuted in Eastern 🇺🇦 which is absolute nonsense and I've been saying this for 8 years: pic.twitter.com/tRTFPD6Inl
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I am also saying that russians bleating about being discriminated against while Ukrainians are going through actual unspeakable violence is unacceptable, tone deaf and vile. There is no "russophobia". There is "being held accountable for the first time".
Bots, trolls and other morons will be immediately blocked. I'm not bending to anyone's gaslighting and guilt tripping.
Lots of Ukrainian girls can't tell their stories now because they are not with us anymore - because of russians.
A Ukrainian woman should not be silenced.
Positive.
@cryptodrftng You're right, I'm a moron, and a Russian troll. That's what you got out of this. Jay-sus.
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Go back to 4/ please. russia has physically cancelled out of existence 350 Ukrainian cultural sites in 3(!) months. Wanna give that equal airtime? #CancelrussianCulture
@RomanianInSwe @cryptodrftng No, it means they have been sold in libraries for so long that hundreds of years later they still speak true, and it's wrong to cancel them like they some dudes on FB/Twitter. It's like the digital version of burning heaps of books in public places.
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Is this what you are busy reading at the moment?
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@RomanianInSwe @cryptodrftng Oh, I wanted to read UA authors. Will do that when time permits.
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@kasia_ia дякую 💙💛
recently @nytimes published an article, “Russian artists aren’t the problem.” But they are a problem!
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If you are bored with my texts, please read the response of Prof. Hiroaki Kuromiya:
The fallacy of “Russian Culture” in Ukraine
https://t.co/OoUqse9TWK
@klemmensenpia1 🤣🤣🤣
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Ukrainian people are being tortured, raped and killed, including children and the elderly and that's what's your tragedy? When you are ready to see the real tragedies, take a look here: twitter.com/cryptodrftng/s…
#russianWarCrimes #GenocideOfUkrainians
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@cryptodrftng @Ukraine_DAO that's a tragedy, really. It's the burning of the Library of Alexandria all over again. I'll put UA authors on my list (I'm afraid I'm not educated enough in your national literature). I'm taking my cues though from Howard Bloom, that deems literature valuable in itself, not in
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Of course we are not the best fit. For this debate, I'd need an opponent educated on the subject and with higher emotional intelligence. But they'd never argue with me.
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@cryptodrftng Look, I've had it with you. You're obviously a hothead even taken out of your very regrettable context. Truth is we don't make the best fit in talking to each other.
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So @primusmagestri, can we conclude that all these russian writers were ... russophobic?!
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@CalinIonescu5 @cryptodrftng Well let's see what russian writers had to say about russians and the russian soul https://t.co/NdWgqTYDZr
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Important to not let #GenocideOfUkrainians evoke primitive anger.
✨ Educate yourself - and you will hate russia even more: www.bisa.ac.uk: Empire, exceptionalism, and the rhyming of history
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@radioevrazia is one of my friends from russia. He is also a "russophob", you know, like all decent people 💙💛 @radioevrazia, are you upset with me? 😂
@cryptodrftng @primusmagestri 😈💜👏
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@ianbremmer @cryptodrftng Russia’s idea of diplomacy and negotiation is to wipe your existence off the face of the earth while claiming all that’s best of you for themselves.
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@ka1tmaz The ally of executioners: Pushkin, Brodsky, and the deep roots of russian chauvinism, by Matthew Omolesky #cancelruSSia https://t.co/6xAhljy8m1
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For those who are in the bunker (😉) - #GenocideOfUkrainians is happening right now.
russians: 1) know about it. 2) Most of them are cheering to it.
actions they do to stop it: distracting themselves in between killing civilians to steal a washing machine or a doghouse.
@dragosmihai78 @brokenpixelua @cryptodrftng Let's equate every mistake-maker to shit even if he/she/they had done one big thing to outlast them for generations. Nietzsche had incestual thoughts, Socrates was promiscuous, Kierkegaard - a loser, Orwell -a mysoginist. I can hear us all going dumb with this kind of thinking...
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However, important to know that not all russians are busy killing Ukrainian civilians. In this call intercepted by @ServiceSsu a very emphatic russia woman is telling her partner to rape Ukrainian women, just not tell her about it. “I allow it, just use protection”.
@lapatina_ Full English translation: https://t.co/WJzuD0zIRS
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Here is another example of #NotAllRussians which is a narrative used by russians every time they want to avoid being held accountable for #GenocideOfUkrainians. They still haven't paid for the last one, already happy about the new one.
@DMokryk @ServiceSsu Added English subtitles:
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ru woman approves of killing a civilians Ukrainian woman in front of her 2 children because "of course, she counts as an enemy too"
#ArmUkraineNow #GenocideOfUkrainians #NichtmeinKrieg https://t.co/kkgabRndp5
Why didn't they? Because they say it never happened. Millions of Ukrainians died that time.
No feeling of guilt and no self-reflection whatsoever. Don't politise.
Don't "generalise".
Don't be a "russophobe".
It didn't happen.
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Result? #GenocideOfUkrainians is happening again. You know why? Because they know they always get away with it. Nothing is going to happen because they can just start bleating afterwards they had nothing to do with it. That they're the victim. And then that it didn't happen.
For over 8 (!) years I was saying that this was going to happen. You think I was heard / listened to? Taken seriously? No. It's too hard to accept that a Ukrainian woman can be better educated on this and better placed to comment. I have "bias of the person being oppressed".
@Ukraine_DAO Insta stories from 22 Feb 2022 https://t.co/mKJeuwnKkz
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I can say to you clearly. russians are killing Ukrainians as a nation together. They should be held accountable for it. There may even be (theoretically) some collective guilt for not taking action to prevent or stop #GenocideOfUkrainians. The guilt isn't there. It should be.
@dragosmihai78 @brokenpixelua @cryptodrftng Can you say that again but more clearly? What do you want to say?
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Deliberate neglect is standing by while something awful happens and doing little or nothing to stop it. But they're not just not stopping the genocide. They're happy about it. They don't understand why we don't love them. They "can't do anything wrong". @CalinIonescu5
And as that is happening, what you call a "tragedy" is that I don't want to read Dostoevsky and to forget their occupant language. People aren't very busy calling them out but I am policed online every day for what I say about them. I'm the "extremist" here. @CalinIonescu5
Every other day I'm shouted at publicly, told that I have a horrible attitude, and that I should be ashamed of the radical things I say. My radical "russophobia" means holding russians accountable to the same standard as others would be. On an individual level. Wild idea 🤯
Whilst I have your attention - Azov are actual legends that everyone in the free world should be grateful to.
Almost everything written about them in the Western mass media is blatant lies and those "journalists" should also be held accountable for the lies they wrote 🤯
4/ 🧵 about Azov - contains the page I'm maintaining with credible info about them: https://t.co/803JvUf8T3
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Disappointed in how reputable publications have been parroting russian lies about them.
Azov are heroes. #SaveAzov https://t.co/QLNADiNpZr
Also, another legend is going to the frontline tomorrow - donate to @brokenpixelua and he'll deal with the orcs, come back and film us new puppy videos. Wholesome stuff 🌱
Here it is:
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https://t.co/61UEOxSb4w
Anyway, back to victimblaming - here's what it looks like:
@djw155 @cryptodrftng one thing ("The Italian Opera" or whatever), one thing that you can'tafterwards remove from public libraries, from tetxbooks, because of some Mussolini or Putin. Sure, u can be done with that "one thing", hate it even, but proselytising that type of hate is a big turn off for me.
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Why is their russophobia not a turn off for you?
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@djw155 @cryptodrftng To me that one things that makes Russian literature is taken from Bloom's Western Canon, Pushkin, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Chekhov. To which one could add Gorki, and from the 20th century Pasternak, Grossman, Solzhenitsyn. I think that's pretty compact for that "one thing" that spawn
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@cryptodrftng Actually we know, it's being live translated, no excuses to not know @telehuntwatch https://t.co/XoeV3lCYaL
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That's what they are writing, thinking, spreading and doing.
Volodymyr Yermolenko about the "russian culture"
some thoughts on Russian culture and the debate around it. And why i think that we won't understand Russian aggressive stance towards democracy and the West without analyzing some deep topics in the Russian literature and intellectual history. A thread 1/6
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@Poll_in 👏👏👏
Приїхала в Харків і знищила частину бібліотеки.
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Її збирали чотири покоління моєї сім'ї; кілька тисяч томів. Іноді ми купляли книжки насамперед їжі. Але зараз я викинула російську літературу. Навіть колекційні видання. Навіть не продала, щоби далі мене воно не йшло
Thank you @lapatina_ for a new entry to my collection about #russianculture
Russian occupants repainted the Mariupol city sign into its national colors. As if that’s gonna change anything https://t.co/zE8CiRurwj
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Sorry for upsetting fans of Tolstoy singing praise to russian troops - neglecting a russian man who's been dead for over 110+ years is of course more important than #GenocideOfUkrainians happening as we speak. We'll make sure these books are "burned" particularly thoroughly twitter.com/kvakes/status/…
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If in your view, russian literature = whole world, I'm sorry to hear you've not been educated better. twitter.com/kvakes/status/…
No I won't "have to" cancel everything. The people opressed by the English & Dutch etc can cancel whoever they want - it's not for me to lecture them. My people are suffering from genocide at the hands by russians - again. And I should be worrying about Tolstoy? Why? twitter.com/kvakes/status/…
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The screenshot below is the transcript of a video I translated a couple days ago for another project: youtu.be: Росія вдарила по школі на Салтівці: загинула жінка, чоловік поранений
This is from Kharkiv, in the past - the most pro-russian city in 🇺🇦. Maybe these people know more than those who are not from Ukraine?
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@kvakes, the tweet you replied to is the beginning of a 🧵 where I explain why russian literature/culture and genocide are related. I'll be happy to continue the conversation once you've taken in my perspective. twitter.com/kvakes/status/…
Yes. And I do believe very strongly that their opinions carry more weight and should be listened to more than someone's who's never known senseless violence like this. russians turned the most russian-speaking city into ruin - just because it was in Ukraine.
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@cryptodrftng What these people have said succinctly shows how absurd the rhetoric is that is used to justify the actions against them 😥
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23:00 is where it gets real ewwww I didn't realise @yermolenko_v had that podcast btw, he's awesome 💙💛 thank you for sharing, @Marvelogue1
@CalinIonescu5 @cryptodrftng Interesting critique of Dostoyevsky around the 18:20 min mark on this excellent podcast https://t.co/rr8z7TJSMN
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#russianculture in #Melitopol, Ukraine
#ArmUkraineNow #ArmUkraine #StandWithUkraine
⚡️In Melitopol, the Russian military dismantled an art object - a cube with a map of Ukraine.
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As reported, the Russians saw in it the symbolism of Nazism. On it was depicted: a trident, wild cherry and a map of Ukraine. https://t.co/aDRtMCSDDl
@yermolenko_v for @ForeignPolicy: foreignpolicy.com: From Pushkin to Putin: Russian Literature’s Imperial Ideology
#russianculture #russianliterature #ArmUkraineNow #ArmUkraine #StandWithUkraine
i hear this “culture of dostoyevsky” bs every day. it is long overdue foreigners educate themselves that russian classical literature is chock full of dehumanizing nationalism and colonialism. дякую @yermolenko_v за цей текст
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#russiancolonialism
https://t.co/aEiCW2oN1r
@maksymeristavi look at this educational literature for russian kids 🤣 Thank you @MadMax25678931 for sharing this
A (not so) 'Great russky culture' and a (not really) 'mystifying russky soul' both have a huge impact on raising of the young russkies. Maybe so they'd come well-prepared for the war crimes and atrocities in the name of their Czar later. Who knows? https://t.co/dCyGa7OoTM
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russian literature is imperialist chauvinist trash.
Some "russian" literature that's not trash was written by the authors that russians appropriated (read: stole) from other cultures.
Pushkin: virulently imperialist "To the Slanderers of Russia"
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Dostoyevsky: disgustingly antisemitic "Diaries of a Writer"
Brodsky: insane ravings about Ukraine.
The best way to never get disappointed in 🇷🇺 literary treasures is to do like Slava and never read them in first place.
The interview below was translated from barbaric into English by @Ukraine_DAO on request of @BackAndAlive
✨More about our work with @BackAndAlive - twitter.com/ukraine_dao/st…
Here you go, @olgatokariuk!
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✨ DRFTNG WITH UKRAINE
[alternative title]
✨ "WHY RUSSIAN CULTURE IS GARBAGE & THIS GARBAGE IS VERY DANGEROUS"
https://t.co/KhMQaAhjIY
✨ ruSSians in their own words✨
📚Barbaric-to-English translation by @MadMax25678931
Russkies on the subject of the so-called russky culture in their own words. For your convenience I've taken a liberty and prepared this barbaric-to-English translation. #russkywork #russkyjob #fakeculture #empireoflies #russiaisaterrorisstate https://t.co/77IIxIJect
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⚡️Hetman Skoropadskyy on "good russians" 🦄
❗️Spoiler alert: they haven't changed
✨ Translation of the original 🧵 by @DarkaHirna by @garbanzo0813 of @Ukraine_DAO
⚡️Hetman Skoropadskyy on "good russians"
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✨ Translation of the original 🧵 by @DarkaHirna by @garbanzo0813 of Ukraine DAO
Skoropadskyy's words are very relevant today 👇 https://t.co/DobGe5t2gL
Empire is parochial.
❗️russian "culture" is garbage and that garbage is dangerous: twitter.com/cryptodrftng/s…
Empire is parochial. It doesn't see beyond itself. It only cares about tokens of its own culture: Pushkin and others who it doesn't even read, for if it did, it'd have to come to terms with the disparaging narratives of Ukraine & Ukrainians that the Russian writers perpetuated.
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typical "good russian", ladies and gentlemen
why is @TheAtlantic platforming someone like that is beyond me.
#GenocideOfUkrainians #russiaisaterroriststate
🇷🇺: invades 🇺🇦 for no reason
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Hundreds of thousands of casualties, millions of broken lives
"good russian" for @TheAtlantic: "Poor me. When are Ukrainians going to speak up for Pushkin? Why don't they read Dostoevsky while being killed? I'm so miserable🥺"
https://t.co/YsWt6Fa0sz https://t.co/qqCwTJRnaD
"russian literature and philosophy actually caused this war" - @Frialum
Russian literature and philosophy actually caused this war. For centuries it's explained to common folks that Ukrainians are inferior, that they do not exist as a distinct ethnical group. It's Dostoyevsky who made it so easy for Russians to drop bombs on Mariupol https://t.co/vKfe8queW4
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Can someone name me a character with less self-awareness and empathy than:
⚡️"good russians" who feel sorry for themselves and wait for Ukrainians to speak up for Pushkin while we have russian bombs dropped on our heads ⚡️
I'll wait 👋 twitter.com/castletongreen…
✨Obvious Things That Everyone Should Know By Now But To Germans €20 Is Still €20 And That's What Matters✨
@Flash43191300 Unfortunately, Putin is just the tip of the iceberg, the problem is barbaric Russian imperialism and colonialism that is a part of Russian mentality, and the sooner Europeans realize it (especially Mr. Scholz) the better it will be for everyone. Ban Russians from entering the EU!
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cc: @pierre_dalai #russianculture
@cryptodrftng To truly appreciate their love of Russia, you need to read this:
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https://t.co/21CxIjLfzF
cc: @pierre_dalai #russianculture
#Russia #patriotism #imperialism #conspiracies
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from “Imperium” by Ryszard Kapuściński (1993) https://t.co/wbC7sSdIhU
cc: @pierre_dalai #russianculture
@cryptodrftng
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The value of human life in #Russia, including vis-à-vis other #Russians: https://t.co/Otfcc5pY1t
#russianculture, ladies and gentlemen
Russian mercenary Igor Mangushev (Bereg) made a performance with the skull of a Ukrainian soldier killed near Azovstal.
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In his speech, Mangushev said that Russia is at war with the Ukrainian idea, so all Ukrainians must be killed.
Still think trading with Russia is a good idea? https://t.co/qpnWS5JCeV
cc: @pierre_dalai #russianculture
#evil #cruelty #Russia #Russians #Dostoevsky
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@Ukraine_DAO
Excerpt from "Imperium"
by Ryszard Kapuściński (1993), p. 195f.: https://t.co/V3NUcPzqT3
"Mysterious russian soul" - 🧵 by @brokenpixelua
In this video is literally everything you need to know to understand mysterious russian soul. And it is not only about corruption.
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Let’s look closer
/1 https://t.co/ugAaUF7TBP
Definition of "russian" #russianculture #russiaisaterroriststate
Defining "russian" (spelled with no capitalised "r", BTW): an arrogant person with shauvinist, imperialist views.
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Total lack of self-awareness and sense of responsibility.
When asked to be held accountable for something, plays victim and cries about "russophobia". @kvakes https://t.co/qGP61q88eq