The review article examines the recent book by Eugenia Kuznetsova, an Ukrainian writer, translator, and specialist in postcolonial studies, “Language as a Sword: How the Soviet Empire Spoke” (2023). The main themes discussed in the article are the instrumentalization of language in the Soviet state and the development and characteristics of the Soviet Russian language. Despite possible criticisms of Kuznetsova’s book, it nevertheless convincingly shows how the Russian language became the “sword” of the Soviet totalitarian state and why national languages should serve as “shields” for all nations and peoples living there. The importance of the study for understanding the current linguistic situation in Ukraine and the Russian Federation is also emphasized.
The Russian re-invasion of 2022 has had a ripple effect on every aspect of Ukrainian society and culture. Fanfiction was no different, producing many highly politicized works, particularly in the RPF (Real Person Fiction) category. In this article, the author examines the locations in Ukrainian fanfics of modern political Ukrainian RPF and historical Ukrainian RPF about the Ukrainian Revolution (1917-1921) to determine their functions and correlation to Ukrainian identity. As a result, three primary functions were identified: canon building, relying on references to places directly connected to the subject's public life, as well as constructing hypothetical places in the private "gaps"; relatability, referencing specific details of daily life (particularly during the war) to establish a deeper connection with the reader; and finally, symbolic geography, referring to the especially significant places of war. The last function was the most influenced by the fanfiction author's identity.
The article analyses the concept of palingenesis (regeneration, passage through death) in its European context and the Ukrainian cultural tradition. The author argues that, in the Ukrainian context, especially during the war, palingenesis is more than just a metaphor, designating an existential reality of affirming life despite death and emphasizing the strength and resilience of life in spite of the forces of death and destruction. The author explores this topic through the works of several Ukrainian authors, including Shevchenko, Kostomarov, Lesia Ukrainka, Malanyuk, Shlemkevych, and others. The author emphasizes the importance of examining Ukrainian cultural and existential experiences as a means of overcoming postmodern relativism and virtuality.
This article is an exposition of the problem of time in the philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951). It focuses primarily on the works from his so-called middle to late period (1930-1951), which are explicitly concerned with the problem. The aim is to clarify how time is presented in his philosophy and what consequences can be drawn for the question of the reality of time from employing Wittgenstein's approach. Wittgenstein's thoughts on time during this period are marked by the distinction between memory-time and information-time, based on the principle of verification: the former is verified by recalling an event from memory, while the latter is obtained from an external source. From the perspective of the grammatical approach, which he developed at the time, the distinction is shown to be superfluous. Memory-time can be reduced to information-time, and inquiry into the nature of memory requires devising phenomenological descriptive language, which is contrary to Wittgenstein's philosophical stance. Thus, only instances of information-time can be used to investigate time. However, this investigation demonstrates that the convenient philosophical approach to the problem of time is prone to misconceptions about its nature, which stem, first, from misunderstanding the language and, second, from deriving theories of time from its grammar.
