Culture in Ukraine: the backbone of resistance
Meeting with Iryna Slavinska, journalist, writer, translator and director of the public radio station Radio Culture Ukraine, columnist for the program Les Echos d'ailleurs on France Culture (September 2024 - January 2025).
Description of the scientific event
Since the start of Russia's aggression against Ukraine, culture has asserted itself as an essential vector of resilience and national unity. Moscow, by denying the existence of a distinct Ukrainian identity and culture, has underestimated their fundamental role in mobilizing the country. Far from being paralyzed by the war, Ukraine's cultural landscape is undergoing a genuine revival. From Kharkiv to Lviv, theaters, museums and bookshops continue to welcome ever-growing numbers of visitors, illustrating the central role of culture in Ukrainian resistance. The preservation of heritage, like contemporary artistic production, is thus part of a struggle for sovereignty and the affirmation of a national identity in the face of aggression.
In 2024, against this backdrop, France Culture invited Iryna Slavinska to join its airwaves as a columnist for the program Les Echos d'ailleurs, making her a Ukrainian voice on the French public service. Her approach blends news analysis and cultural perspective, demonstrating how understanding political and social dynamics also requires knowledge of Ukrainian heritage and cultural productions.
At the helm of Radio Culture Ukraine, Iryna Slavinska plays a central role in the country's media and cultural landscape. The station's diverse programming combines cultural news, historical chronicles and musical broadcasts, from classical music to contemporary works. In 2023, in her collection of essays An airy, anxious book, Iryna Slavinska explores how the lives of Ukrainians have been turned upside down since the start of Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine. Drawing on her own experience, the author questions changing priorities, adapting to a new reality and the need to preserve a reassuring routine and a safe space. She also offers an in-depth reflection on the female experience in wartime.
A committed feminist, Iryna Slavinska is also the author of several books devoted to women's rights. In her latest book, published in January 2025, she analyzes the foundations of feminism, highlighting its specificities in the Ukrainian context.
Through her writings, broadcasts and commitment to free and accessible culture, Iryna Slavinska embodies the power of culture as a tool of resistance and transmission. Her work helps to make Ukraine's voice heard in France and beyond, reminding us that what is at stake in this war is also the preservation of a cultural identity in the face of attempts to erase it.
Organizer
- Iryna Dmytrychyn (CREE, Inalco)