LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (07/13/03)

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

More reaction to literary dialogue

Dear Editor:

I read the dialogue of Yuriy Tarnawsky of New York and Volodymyr Tsybulko of Kyiv and Lviv about the current literary and cultural situation in Ukraine (April 13 and 20) with great interest. True, I was somewhat surprised by the highly critical remarks on the subject expressed by Mr. Tarnawsky, but since Mr. Tsybulko did not object and did not seem to be offended by them, I took it to mean that the opinions expressed on the subject under discussion were realistic. "The truth shall make you free," says the Good Book, and sometimes it takes courage to say it.

Consequently I read with amazement a letter from Taras Hunczak (June 8) stating that he was "shocked and offended" by the above mentioned discussion, not about the subject matter itself (I know Prof. Hunczak as a professional historian, not a literary critic), but by Mr. Tarnawsky's reported frustrations in his professional dealings with literati in Ukraine. So what? Those are his problems, and I can understand them, but I did not feel that he was speaking on behalf of "us," diaspora Ukrainians, as Mr. Hunczak seemed to feel.

For my part, the experience I had with colleagues in Ukraine has been satisfactory and rewarding. Since retiring as psychology professor from St. John Fisher College in Rochester, N.Y., I have been working (pro bono) for the G.S. Kostiuk Institute of Psychology in Kyiv - the main scholarly research center of this kind in Ukraine. I am now part of a team working on a multi-language psychological dictionary, acting as a consultant for the entries in the English, German and French languages.

Through my working contacts with Ukrainians I learned of their interest in the (relatively new) psychological current which goes under the name of humanistic psychology. To satisfy their need for relevant information I enlisted the assistance of a well-known Ukrainian scholar, professor H. O. Ball of the Psychology Institute, and together we collected a number of basic materials in the English and German languages, translated them into Ukrainian and compiled them as an anthology titled "Humanistic Approaches in 20th Century Western Psychology," Vol. I." The book was published in Kyiv in 2001 by the University Publishing House Pulsary and it is recommended by the Ukrainian Ministry of Science and Education as a textbook for students in institutions of higher learning.

The biggest problem I encountered in this project has not been a lack of qualified professionals with whom to work in Ukraine, but rather a lack of financial support for scholarly publications. Since the scholarly publishing business in Ukraine is financially broke (in my opinion mainly due to policies of a corrupt government and the absence of proper laws), I had to act not only as editor but also as financial broker, searching for funds for the book in the Ukrainian diaspora. After a period of "trial and error," I learned the necessary subtleties of fund-raising.

What surprised me, incidentally, was a complete lack of interest for this project on the part of our two great and financially strong scholarly institutions, the Ukrainian Studies Fund (Harvard) and the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies (Edmonton). I realized that their main focus is supplying information about Ukraine for the Western scholarly world, while my work went in the opposite direction bringing information about important scholarly developments in the West to contemporary Ukraine.

Presently I am working on volume II of the humanistic psychology series, to be titled "Psychology and Spirituality." Two news items from Ukraine gave me an impetus to work on this project. The June 2002 issue of the bulletin Smoloskyp Ukrainy (published by Osyp Zinkevych, the well-known diaspora activist, now living in Ukraine) quoted student Iryna Reva from Mykolaiv: "What worthwhile ideas are there today? They are terrible, pitiful. They do not attract young people, they do not interest us."

Another item was an article published in the well-known Kyivan social political weekly Zerkalo Nedeli, No. 6, June 2002, under the title "Meaning of Life after Atheism." It was a report about a conference in Kyiv co-sponsored by the National University Kyiv-Mohyla Aca-demy and the Kyiv Theological Academy, located on the territory of the Percherska Lavra and affiliated with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Moscow Patriarchate. Spiritual crisis of our times and the concurrent spread of nihilism is also a concern of humanistic psychologists. The French writer and politician Andre Malraux has said that the 21st century will be spiritual or it will not be at all. The planned anthology "Psychology and Spirituality" will present contributions of humanistic psychologists on this important topic.

I am not prepared to wait, as suggested by Zenon Mazurkewicz (May 11) who writes: "It takes three generations to raise an intelligentsia in a normal country. When that happens in Ukraine we can share our intellectual and cultural energy and help Ukraine."

Based on my experience, Ukraine urgently needs our help, and the time is now.

Roman Tratch
Penfield, N.Y.

Seeking information about 1932-1933 visit

Dear Editor:

In 1932 a small group of American Negro Communists went to the Soviet Union to make a movie about racism in the United States. After their arrival, the cinema production fell through and their plans were undecided.

Between August 3 and 20, 1933, they traveled through the Kharkiv train station and Ukraine. Almost nothing is known about what this group saw or did at this time. The best known among them, Langston Hughes, is totally silent on this matter. As his notoriety as a writer increased, his presence in Ukraine at this time has lost significance.

If anyone knows anything about this group or Mr. Hughes in particular, please contact: John Hayek, H & H Machine, Inc., 2403 County Lane 137, Carthage, MO 64836; telephone, (417) 358-6167 (office) or (417) 624-8051 (home); fax, (417) 358-5253.

John Hayek
Carthage, Mo.

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