One 12 months on and I used to be one of many fortunate ones who nonetheless hadn’t had casualties amongst her pals. That modified on 27 Might after I found that Evheny Osievsky, a Ukrainian PhD scholar, had died close to Bakhmut.
I used to be working as a life-style journal editor when Zhenya first supplied me his texts, which have been too good to be printed in a shiny journal. We acquired alongside; he was amazed that I may grasp his daring, playful and area of interest concepts about Sundance competition documentaries, Jacques Audiard, Sofia Coppola, David Bowie’s music, neglected references in US comics and marginalized spiritual communities in Kyiv. It was his stability between irony and poetry, sardonic punchlines and class with a pinch of vagabond charisma that made our conversations hotter and livelier than these I had with different authors again then.
When he voluntarily joined a army unit, he wrote on Fb:
I’ve no doubts that when folks say ‘these such as you shouldn’t struggle in wars’, they see it as a praise, even an expression of assist. However I don’t want such assist. It’s as if mentioning writing or utilizing the phrase ‘discourse’ (or no matter guys ‘like me’ do) one way or the other implicitly make your occupation a extra elitist pursuit than of those that ‘simply’ defend their households and cities, ‘simply’ lose their arms, ‘simply’ flip into chopped up meat underneath a caterpillar tank. However folks can’t be cut up into varieties and classes. As a substitute, folks right here, on the frontline, cut up their loaf of bread into two, share their tissues, weapons, water, gloves, socks, energy for telephones and physique heat. I name them brothers.
Among the many many posts from my info bubble that embody phrases similar to ‘info frontline’, ‘cultural frontline’ and even ‘artistic frontline’ (thought of quite offensive to these on the precise frontline), Zhenya’s publish actually stood out. And but, his wartime days didn’t forestall him from fascinated by his most favourite issues and being who he was. He shared photographs of studying a Thomas Pynchon novel someplace within the mud, taking pleasure within the writer’s daring and immaculate descriptions.
Someday in February, Zhenya wrote to me: ‘Hello, it’s been three months since I’ve been within the trenches. Yesterday I snapped and went to the cinema. Managed to look at a brand new blockbuster. I’ve heard you might be in command of {a magazine} and I ponder should you can publish my film evaluation. A movie critic joined the military, stored a movie-free weight-reduction plan for 3 months, however then misplaced it and – there you go – got here up with a evaluation – that’s the textual content’s idea.’
I refused, saying that the journal had modified dramatically and we solely do struggle protection now. ‘We’ll need to catch up and get drunk after the victory’, he replied.
It turned out to be his final message to me; initially, I disregarded the hazy concept of his possible demise, as he was nonetheless current – alive, spirited and playful.
Silence to know
Zhenya’s demise has been probably the most deafening blast amongst all of the drones and missiles I’ve heard thus far. And undoubtedly the closest one. Most likely not a lot due to our periodic friendship however due to the final dialog we had. I owe you that final piece I rejected, Zhenya; let it’s this one.
From my subjective wartime perspective, his demise additionally exemplifies why I feel Russian intellectuals ought to hand over their media area for extra Ukrainian voices to be offered, highlighted, found and printed. Whereas Ukraine is claimed to have a shiny and extremely anticipated democratic future, the ultimate demise toll, notably amongst troopers, stays disastrously unsure. Ukraine’s younger, outstanding cultural figures being misplaced once more in an enforced mind drain, towards the backdrop of the nation’s cultural heyday, is a significant drawback.
Zhenya may have continued writing papers, researching Jacques Audiard and anthropology, frequenting residencies overseas and pondering Pynchon’s works in a secure atmosphere. That will have been thought to be a contribution too. However he selected to place his efforts the place his mouth was and illustrate how society defends democracy.
Whether or not you’re a farmer, physician or scholar, legislation violations don’t will let you sit again. Accountability doesn’t finish after the ultimate full cease in your essays. There’s no excuse, in response to Zhenya, to not struggle the struggle you regard as yours. The hole between the so-called multitude and people who learn or produce poetry could be simply damaged down by fundamental shared values.
The price of struggle is unfathomable, as is the silence that follows such deaths. However that’s the best way unity is being constructed – via poetry, sharing with others and actions that no one stands aside from.
Hyperlinks to examples of Evheny Osievsky’s writing:
‘The fallout of goals, the demonstration of shadows: Watchmen and the atomic zeitgeist of the 80s’, The Comics Journal, 18 Might 2022
‘Army insubordination has saved the world from nuclear struggle a number of occasions’, Spilne, 6 July 2022
‘Six cats, thirty folks, 4 mortar shells: Two weeks within the occupied Kyiv suburb’, Spilne, 21 March 2022
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