Thread by @heyandriy

Why does Ukraine demand to cancel Russian culture and reconsider its value in the world?

#StandWithUkraine #CultureEd #CultureWars #RussiaUkraineWar

Before the large-scale Russian invasion, we in Ukraine studied Russian culture at school a lot, unjustifiably too much, sacrificing teaching hours for studying other (and our own) cultures. We still have too many streets in honour of Russian cultural figures.

Often we were ambassadors of Russian culture. Today, we demand to limit Russian culture for many reasons.

The war is the first.

Second, most Russian writers, beginning with Pushkin, were anti-Ukrainian. They spoke and wrote about Ukrainian culture as a "smaller" low-valued culture and laid the groundwork for hatred and genocide.

[Pushkin's poem "Poltava" was, in fact, the first manipulative anti-Ukrainian propaganda product in Russian literature.]

Third, even in its most humanistic works, Russian culture has proved its incapability to educate even the Russians and teach them that stealing, killing, and raping — big sins. Thus, the world (and earlier Ukraine) is overestimating its value.

Fourth, Russian culture is not Russian by its nature and origins. Like any imperialist culture, it expanded and integrated the cultures of all other nations it conquered.

Fifth, there is a history of the Russian-Ukrainian wars since the XII century, the history of the suppressed uprisings, and prohibitions of the Ukrainian language, culture and traditions in the Russian empire since the XVIII century.

[Russian cultural figures often supported these prohibitions arguing that there is no Ukrainian culture au fond.]

Russian attempts (like yesterday's video) to somehow prove their cultural value is simply clumsy and now outrageous. If the true bearers of "Russian culture" create such shame, this should be another argument to abolish Russian culture. There is no culture.

There is a cheap Harry Potter parody in which they again want to destroy someone.

https://twitter.com/heyandriy/status/1531764277786382338

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