Spring Break
OKSANA ZABUZKHO: Renaissance Woman
Issue date: 4/28/05 Section: News
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BY JOE BUCKLEY
Contributing Writer
The world was recently transfixed by the Ukraine's Orange Revolution, a democratic response to massive corruption and voter intimidation during the Ukraine's presidential run- off. On Thursday, April 21, the UMass Boston community had a chance to hear about this historic event from a woman who participated in it.
Oksana Zabuzhko is a Renaissance woman; a highly acclaimed poet, best-selling novelist, philosopher, and a participant in the Orange Revolution. Her work has been widely translated in Central and Eastern Europe and has won her many literary awards. Ms. Zabuzhko is a powerful woman who exudes an aura of energy and intellectual passion.
Ms. Zabuzhko took part in a discussion with Ellen Hume titled, "Writer as Activist: A Conversation between Oksana Zabuzhko and Ellen Hume." The event began with Hume asking Ms. Zabuzhko about the Ukraine's Orange Revolution. She responded by saying that the revolution was a genuine, "popular movement representing the majority. In response to a sham election, the people of the Ukraine joined together and provided the world with a demonstration of the power of democracy." She further added that, "they [the Ukrainian people] could not take any more abuse. We have had enough! We are not going to buy this."
The former Ukrainian administration used many police-state tactics in an attempt to win the election. Heavy-handed propaganda, fraud, and violence were common practices. Hume brought up the subject of "extra-legal activities" by goon squads which led to the death of several journalists. In response, Ms. Zabuzhko said, "How dare they think we would take this? It was conducted like a cold war by the government."
Ms. Zabuzhko likened the election campaign in her country to a "guerilla war," in which, "people were fighting to get the true information." She noted the important role that the Internet played in the spread of truthful information. The noted writer stressed the connection between a free press and democracy. The old regime did everything it could to obscure the truth and the election became an information war, one with casualties.
After stating that 250 journalists were fired in a two-month period, Ms. Zabuzhko recounted a heartrending story. She said that a man who lived in the Eastern Ukraine who, upon hearing a false report on Russian radio that claimed that the old regime had won the election, committed suicide because he refused to live in the type of society that would result from such a government. She said that this man was not alone in his feelings. "We all had dark thoughts. What if the gangsters turn the Ukraine into another Belarus? [former Soviet Republic that has devolved into crime and authoritarian misery]"