Echoes of Glasnost 1n• Soviet Ukraine Edited by Romana M. Bahry Captus University Publications Cover: Official demonstration "Ecology and Us" attended by 10,000 people in the center of Kiev, 13 November 1988. Scene from documentary film Mikrofon (Microphone), director Georgii Shkliarevsky, Ukrainian News and Documen­ tary Film Studio in Kiev. Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Main entry under title: Echoes of glasnost in Soviet Ukraine Includes papers presented at a symposium held at York University, Toronto, Ont. in Jan. 1989. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-921801-05-X 1. Ukraine - Politics and government - 1945- Ukraine - Intellectual life. 3. Glasnost. Perestroika. I. Bahry, Romana M., Date DK508.84.E35 1989 947'.710854 C90-093141-8 Copyright © 1989, Captus Press Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise, without written permission by Captus Press Inc. First printing, January 1990 Second printing, March 1990 Captus University Publications Divison of Captus Press Inc. York University Campus 4700 Keele Street, North York Ontario, Canada M3J 1P3 l{apyHoK OmmascbKozo siooiny KaHaOCbKOZO Tosapucmsa llpuHmeniB YKpai'Hu 1098765432 Printed in Canada To the memory of my grandfather Dr. Wolodymyr Sylvester Kindraczuk Table of Contents Preface vii Acknowledgment xi Contributors xiii Introduction 1 by Thomas A. Meininger PART I: POLITICS Glasnost and Perestroika in the USSR 5 by Bohdan Krawchenko Some Aspects of Pereb_udova and Hlasnist in the USSR and in Soviet Ukraine 12 by Yuri Bohayevsky Nuclear Power, Ecology and the Patriotic Opposition in the Ukrainian SSR: An Analysis of a Post-Chornobyl Trend 18 by David R. Marples Political Patronage and Perestroika: Changes in Communist Party Leadership in Ukraine under Gorbachev and Shcherbytsky 28 by Bohdan Harasymiw Will Restructuring Change the Past? 40 by Stephen Velychenko Religious Freedom in Ukraine 51 by Marko Bojcun Ukraine-the Church-the KGB 56 by Iosyp Terelia HJasnist and Demokratyzatsiia in the USSR 59 by Vasyl Romaniuk Economic Relations: Co-operatives and the Possibilities for Development 62 by Petro Ruban Unofficial Groups and Semi-Official Groups and Samizdat Publications in Ukraine 66 by Taras Kuzio v vi Table of Contents Inaugural Congress of the Ukrainian Popular Front (Rukh) in Kiev 102 by Taras Kuzio A Commentary 109 by Danylo Shumuk PART II: LITERATURE AND THE ARTS Ukraine and the Ukrainian Diaspora in the Era of Glasnost 113 by George G. Grabowicz The Question of Creating A New Self-Consciousness in Ukrainian Culture 123 by Mykola Zhulynsky Because We Have No Time: New Poetry in 1988 130 by Bohdan Rubchak Echoes of Glasnost: Chornobyl in Soviet Ukrainian Literature 151 by Larissa M. L. Zaleska Onyshkevycli A Well-Spring for the Thirsty: lurii Illienko's Film Times Three 77 7 by Seth Feldman Contexts for lllienko 178 by Nick M. Lary The Poetic Cinema of lurii Illienko: the Eve of Ivan Kupalo 184 by Virko Baley Soviet Ukrainian Documentary Films and New Directions in Filmmaking 188 by Romana M. Bahry Ukrainian Unofficial Art and Postmodernism 198 by Gerald Needham Glasnost in Soviet Ukrainian Art 208 by Daria Darewych My Rediscovery of Ukraine through Visual Art 218 by Feodosii Humeniuk Contemporary Ukrainian New Music: An Interview with Virko Baley 223 An Interview with Oleh Krysa 231 The Berezil Theatre of Les Kurbas Beneath the Snows of Siberia 234 by Les Taniuk Preface This volume consists of a collection of viewpoints by twenty-five people, in the form of commentaries and essays, on the subject of glasnost and perestroika in Soviet Ukraine. It is unique not only because it is the first book on the subject but also because the views expressed are not only those of academics and researchers but also diplomats, dissidents, former political prisoners, jour­ nalists, artists, musicians. As the first book on the subject its purpose is to capture the first views and overviews of glasnost and perestroika in Soviet Ukraine as they were expressed up to and including 1989. This book emerged from a symposium on "Glasnost in Soviet Ukraine" held at York University in Toronto, Canada, 28 January-1February1989. It was the first international and interdisciplinary conference on this subject, bringing together an unprecedented number of representatives from the Soviet Union (Y. Bohayevsky, F. Humeniuk, 0. Krysa, V. Romaniuk, P. Ruban, D. Shumuk, M. Zhulynsky) as well as the West. In this respect it was ground-breaking. Two-thirds of the essays in this volume were originally presented at the York University symposium. The majority of the comments expressed at the symposium have been included and I believe that the essays in this collection accurately reflect the essence of the spirit and the range of views presented at that time. However, changes have been occurring at a breath-taking pace. It is due to the dynamic nature of the subject and the rapid development of events that a number of additional papers have been included in order to bring the volume up to date right up to and including the inaugural congress of RUKH (the Ukrainian Popular Movement for Restructuring) which was held between 8-10 September, 1989 in Kiev as the book was being type-set. At the same time it was impossible to constantly be making modifications and additions to the individual papers and so all the authors, as well as the editor, had to stop at some point if the book was going to be published. The views presented in this collection are of course those of the individual authors of the essays. Editorial changes were deliberately kept to a minimum in vii viii Preface order to preserve the individual styles and thrust of the presenters' points of view. These styles run the gamut from highly personal and subjective to dispas­ sionate analysis. No attempt was made to alter this. Some writers insisted on not including footnotes and their decision has been respected. In most matters of style the system adhered to is that outlined in The Chi­ cago Manual of Style, 13th ed., revised and expanded {Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 1982) and Websters Dictionary for spelling. The system of translation is the Modified Library of Congress without diacriti­ cal marks and without the apostrophe for the soft sign. The soft sign has been maintained only for citations of poetry and for Rus'. I have chosen to use Kiev, Dneiper and Chornobyl. In the case of the terms glasnost-hlasnist, perestroika­ perebudova, demokratizatsiia-demokratyzatsiia, samizdat-samvydav, they are used as the individual writers used them. The preparation of this volume was made possible by the co-operation of the contributors. Thanks are due also to the numerous individuals, in addition lo the contributors, who helped with the organization of the symposium or who participated in the symposium as chairs of sessions or commentators: Profes­ sor Sterling Beckwith (York, Music), Professor Jurij Darewych (York, Phys­ ics), Kathryn Elder (York, Film library), Professor John McErlean (York, History) Myron Maksymiw {Associate of Stong College and Director of Musi­ cus Bortnianskii), Laura Martin (Director, Samuel J. Zacks Art Gallery of Stong College), Lydia Palij (poet and artist), Lydia Pawlenko (York, Gazette editor), Professor Christina Petrowska (York, Music), Professor Richard Pope (York, Languages, Literatures, Linguistics), Professor Peter Potichnyj {McM­ aster, Political Science), Professor Orest Subtelny (York, History and Political Science), Valerie Vanstone (York, Media Relations Officer), Dr. Roman Yereniuk (Director, St. Andrew's College, University of Manitoba), Joyce Zemans {Director, Canada Council). Above all I extend thanks to Professor Allen C. Koretsky, the Master of Stong College and Mrs. Olga Cirak, Assistant to the Master, without whose support the symposium, art exhibit, film screen­ ings and concert would not have taken place. Gratefully acknowledged are the sponsors of the symposium: the Wolodymyr and Olga Proc Endowment Fund, the Stong College Master's Of­ fice, the Stong College Student Government, the Co-curricular Fund of the Council of College Masters of York University, the Office of the Provost of York University, the Faculty of Arts (Dean's Office), the Faculty of Fine Arts, the Slavic and East European Studies Group of York University, the Depart­ ment of Political Science, the Ukrainian Studies Endowment Fund, the Ukrai­ nian Studies Lecture Endowment Fund, the York University Ukrainian Students' Association. Gratitude is expressed also to Stefan Genyk­ Berezowsky and the crew of MTV (Ukrainian Magazine), who interviewed and taped many of the symposium participants, and Elizabeth Wells of CJRT-FM and Roma Hadzewycz, editor of Ukrainian Weekly, for their coverage of the events. Some of the articles on the symposium that appeared in the media are: Maureen Murray, "West Must Support 'Fragile' Glasnost Dissident Urges," Toronto Star, 29 January 1989; Natalie Pawlenko, "York Offers Rare Look at Preface ix Ukrainian Movies," Torolllo Star, 31January1989; Ronald Hambleton, "Every­ thing Coming Up Rosy for Duo," Toronto Star, 12 February, 1989. Thanks are due to Taras Kuzio and the Ukrainian Information Service in London, England, Reverend Myroslav Tataryn, Iosyp Terelia and Ievhcn Shabotenko, the director of the Ukrainian News and Documentary Studio in Kiev for the photographs and to John Dawson of DIAR. at York University and John Gereczka for their photographic assistance. Special thanks are due to Andriy Wynnyckyj for his translations and tran­ scriptions. Finally I would like to acknowledge with gratitude the assistance of Pauline Lai, Randy Hoffman, and the staff of Captus Press. Romana M. Bahry York University The publication of this volume was made possible by the support of Mykola Moros, president of Kobza International Corporation. Contributors Romana M. Bahry (Ph.D. University of Toronto) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Languages, Literatures, Linguistics, and the Department of Humanities at York University.