Oksana Zabuzhko's cultural manifesto "Our Europe" presented in Odesa

The presentation of Oksana Zabuzhko 's new book "Our Europe" took place on August 29 at the V. Vasylko Odesa Academic Ukrainian Music and Drama Theater.

Intent was a media partner of the presentation.

The writer noted that she had not been in Odesa for 7 years and after spending half a day walking around the city, she heard many conversations in Ukrainian and noted that there was a feeling of a military city.

"The lightness has left Odesa. Odesa has grown up. Gone is the Parisian lightness that used to characterize it. There used to be an atmosphere of the carefree Mediterranean, and it has really gone," the writer noted.

The writer also suggested that the presentation of her book should be considered a preparation for the resumption of the international literary festival in Odesa and touched upon the discussion of the age of Odesa.

"I am very interested in the news about Khadzhibey Castle. The foundation of the castle has finally been excavated. It is clear that the first written mention means that at that time there was already a port and a city here. It is clear that there was a city here in the 15th century. I am waiting with great interest for the results of the research, but before the first mention, there was already some kind of settlement here. So, a new "eternal city" is probably being engraved on the map of Ukraine, similar to the discussions that are taking place around the age of Kyiv," Oksana Zabuzhko noted.

"Our Europe" is positioned as a sharp intellectual provocation in which Oksana Zabuzhko not only rethinks other people's myths but also creates her own. She speaks bluntly and without concessions, encouraging us to think, argue, find answers, and, most importantly, to see ourselves in the broader history of the continent.

According to the author, this book is about Europe, which protects those whose culture it knows. And at the same time, it is about Ukraine, which is capable of becoming the center of a new civilizational route.

"Our Europe is a collection of essays written mostly after 2022 and united by the theme of Europe, its unlearned lessons of the twentieth century, and its future. The texts of different genres form a multifaceted dialogue between the writer and Europe, which is allied to Ukraine, and the interlocutors are writers (Paul Celan, Alain Polz, Milan Kundera, Czesław Milosz), contemporary politicians, taxi drivers, and even the street.

Кирило Бойко