Nowhereman
Member
I'm Ukrainian. I live in Israel now - it wasn't my choice, but the result of many circumstances, starting from covid-19 and ending the current war in Ukraine.
I'll write here about how I stopped consuming the Russian culture - and how it changed my mind.
When I was a child and teen, I went to a Soviet school. Even though I finished school in 1993 - and the SU collapsed in 1991 - we still were taught by the soviet textbooks. So we never heard of the Ukrainian People's Republic in 1917-1921(23), independent of Russia and recognized or about to be recognized by most European countries. We never heard about The Cossack Hetmanate - a Ukrainian Cossack state in 1648-1782.
Shortly speaking, we'd been taught that Ukraine was always a natural part of Russia - though, in fact, Ukraine was occupied by Russia for most of its history. I knew it only after graduating univ in the 2000th. But I still considered Russians our "friend nation" (not "brother" though - but anyway). I was visiting my friends in SPb and Moscow in 2012-13.
All changed at the beginning of 2014. When Russia occupied Ukrainian Crimea at the end of February - and annexed it at the beginning of March. After this, millions of Ukrainian men drown up in queues before military registration offices - to protect Ukrainian land from Russian occupants. Then Russians invaded Donbas. Yes, we'd all heard lies about DPR and LPR. But the higher command of these so-called "armies" are (since then - and still!) accomplished by generals of the Russian army. It was proved in 2015 - with the specific names of those generals.
So in 2015, I decided I didn't want anymore to consume any Russian culture - from classic literature to podcasts. I was "brain-raped" by it in the soviet school. So I've thought it's time to stop.
Since then, I've started feeling that my brain was becoming clearer.
Here I need to give a remark. If you want to know more - please read Ewa Thompson's book "Imperial Knowledge: Russian Literature and Colonialism". Miss Ewa published this research 22 years ago.
In 2015th, I stopped consuming any Russian content. And I felt how it changed me! When I read or hear something in Russian, I can now distinguish Russians from Russian-speaking Ukrainians or residents of other post-Soviet countries. The Russians felt to me like slaves of their imperial regime.
After that, I and my then-GF had an exciting experience. She'd found a TV series about a female CIA agent who finally married a male FSB agent, moved to Russia, and became a double agent for the CIA. We couldn't find the Ukrainian dubbing-in. And my GF didn't know English well enough. So we decided to view it in Russian. For me, it was most interesting how they changed the translation compared to the original text. Although I could hear only small parts of the original text through the translation, the differences were not only significant - they were critical.
My GF said:
- Wow! their propaganda is so significant that they even put it inside movie translations?
- I think it's vice versa. - I've answered. - Their propaganda is such effective that even translators and voice actors don't feel how much it influences their brains.
Now I feel my brain is entirely free from this influence. Because of learning real (not Russian-cheated) Ukrainian history. And because of refusal of so-called "Russian culture" - which is not culture at all - but lying propaganda itself.
P.S. I'd appreciate and would be thankful for any comments and reactions.
I'll write here about how I stopped consuming the Russian culture - and how it changed my mind.
When I was a child and teen, I went to a Soviet school. Even though I finished school in 1993 - and the SU collapsed in 1991 - we still were taught by the soviet textbooks. So we never heard of the Ukrainian People's Republic in 1917-1921(23), independent of Russia and recognized or about to be recognized by most European countries. We never heard about The Cossack Hetmanate - a Ukrainian Cossack state in 1648-1782.
Shortly speaking, we'd been taught that Ukraine was always a natural part of Russia - though, in fact, Ukraine was occupied by Russia for most of its history. I knew it only after graduating univ in the 2000th. But I still considered Russians our "friend nation" (not "brother" though - but anyway). I was visiting my friends in SPb and Moscow in 2012-13.
All changed at the beginning of 2014. When Russia occupied Ukrainian Crimea at the end of February - and annexed it at the beginning of March. After this, millions of Ukrainian men drown up in queues before military registration offices - to protect Ukrainian land from Russian occupants. Then Russians invaded Donbas. Yes, we'd all heard lies about DPR and LPR. But the higher command of these so-called "armies" are (since then - and still!) accomplished by generals of the Russian army. It was proved in 2015 - with the specific names of those generals.
So in 2015, I decided I didn't want anymore to consume any Russian culture - from classic literature to podcasts. I was "brain-raped" by it in the soviet school. So I've thought it's time to stop.
Since then, I've started feeling that my brain was becoming clearer.
Here I need to give a remark. If you want to know more - please read Ewa Thompson's book "Imperial Knowledge: Russian Literature and Colonialism". Miss Ewa published this research 22 years ago.
In 2015th, I stopped consuming any Russian content. And I felt how it changed me! When I read or hear something in Russian, I can now distinguish Russians from Russian-speaking Ukrainians or residents of other post-Soviet countries. The Russians felt to me like slaves of their imperial regime.
After that, I and my then-GF had an exciting experience. She'd found a TV series about a female CIA agent who finally married a male FSB agent, moved to Russia, and became a double agent for the CIA. We couldn't find the Ukrainian dubbing-in. And my GF didn't know English well enough. So we decided to view it in Russian. For me, it was most interesting how they changed the translation compared to the original text. Although I could hear only small parts of the original text through the translation, the differences were not only significant - they were critical.
My GF said:
- Wow! their propaganda is so significant that they even put it inside movie translations?
- I think it's vice versa. - I've answered. - Their propaganda is such effective that even translators and voice actors don't feel how much it influences their brains.
Now I feel my brain is entirely free from this influence. Because of learning real (not Russian-cheated) Ukrainian history. And because of refusal of so-called "Russian culture" - which is not culture at all - but lying propaganda itself.
P.S. I'd appreciate and would be thankful for any comments and reactions.
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