The “Jewish” theme in Olena Pchilka’s journalism: culturosophical discourse and the present

Abstract

The purpose of the investigation is to investigate the problem of the modern perception of the anti-Jewish journalism of Olena Pchilka. The discourse of the problem was established at the beginning of the 20th century, when Olena Pchilka headed one of the few Ukrainian-language publications - the magazine “Native Land” for more than ten years. The leading theme, problems and ideological guidelines of the magazine are national independence. The cultural philosophical approach became the methodological basis. Results. The oppression of Ukrainians during a long historical time, as part of the Russian Empire, is the very diverse, but never declarative material that filled the pages of the magazine. In Olena Pchilka’s time, only Russians could be nationalists, and for the so-called national minorities it was a territory of bans, repressions, and severe political accusations of separatism. The Ukrainian intelligentsia, which was just beginning to realize its own national identity, often passed in front of the “advanced” (revolutionary and socialist) associations of Russians. In particular, this also applied to the Jewish question. The empire, fearing too large and self-sufficient “minorities”, pushed Jews out of the territories where Russians live (“trait of sedentariness”), created all the conditions for the domination of Jews in the territories of Ukraine and Poland, and later made them an assimilation tool. With the help of provoked Jewish pogroms, the empire discredited the struggle of Ukrainians for national independence. Unlike the majority of timid like-minded people, Olaf Pchilka defended her national position openly, sharply, and honestly. Anti-Jewish (as well as anti-Polish) outbursts by Olena Pchilka are not an excusable wrong position from a historical point of view, they are an example of nationalism based on a democratic worldview and humanistic values. Conclusions. Olena Pchilka’s journalistic work provides generous material for modern analysis, for understanding that the manipulation of the concept of “nationalism” characteristic of European cultural philosophy of 20th-21st centuries (J. Habermas and other) undermine the foundations of democracy. The nationalism of the titular nation of the empire (authoritarian structure by definition) is always thinly veiled chauvinism and xenophobia. The nationalism of the enslaved peoples of the empire is their inalienable right to fight for their existence, to create their own state, to refuse slavery and assimilation.