Author's website Alexander Korotko

Oleksandra Herman Petranovska on the Interview Between Maksym Khodak and Alexander Korotko

Oleksandra Herman Petranovska, director at the Odesa Academic Puppet Theatre, shares her impressions of the conversation between Maksym Khodak and Alexander Korotko about the poem “Stus”, the nature of creativity, language, and human freedom.

I would like to express my deep gratitude for the opportunity to listen to this recording. The thoughts of two strong, intellectual individuals. You address pressing, sometimes rather rarefied subjects that most people consciously avoid, even though they concern absolutely everyone.

This conversation makes you stop and reflect. As social beings, we have an important mission here — to cultivate within ourselves the capacity for deep analysis, reflection, and inner dialogue. This is precisely what distinguishes human beings from the animal world.

Two distinct themes raised in the discussion resonate with me particularly strongly: the fundamental question of language and the phenomenon of dictatorship in its various manifestations. When contemplating these processes through the lens of philosophy, one comes to understand that everything has its historical and spiritual dimension.

Each of us follows our own path and must eventually give ourselves an honest answer: “Who am I? What do I bring into this world, and what motives guide me?” And if today a person answers one way and tomorrow another, this is not weakness. It is a living, natural process of inner evolution and maturation.

It would be immensely interesting to hear the thoughts of others, if anyone is willing to join in this reflection…

Thank you.

Oleksandra Herman Petranovska
Director at the Odesa Academic Puppet Theatre.

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Watch the interview between Maksym Khodak and Alexander Korotko:
“Poet Against Empire”: Maksym Khodak and Alexander Korotko Discuss Vasyl Stus