“History cannot be measured by documents alone”
Last Wednesday one of our permanent contributors, Professor of History at Rutgers University Taras Hunczak visited The Day’s editors. The renowned scholar visiting Ukraine, learned of the appearance of our Ukraine Incognita book of historical sketches and would not wait for his author’s copy (Prof. Hunczak’s article, “No Prophet Is Heard in His Own Land,” published in March 2002 on Taras Shevchenko Memory Day [not translated in this digest], aroused interest among the broad public and thus took a proper place in the book).
Taras Hunczak is well known in Ukraine. He took part in the First Rukh People’s Movement Congress in 1989, witnessed our country’s ups and downs. Since Ukraine gained independence, he has lived in his motherland for three years in all, working fruitfully at various universities. Thus, the historian’s view is not just thoughts on some occasion. “History cannot be measured by documents alone; the history of the man and society should be measured by sensations, by the problems man experiences every day. Yesterday is already history. But the past leaves its traces, and the best way to get to know it is through such publications as Ukraine Incognita,” Prof. Hunczak said.
Seizing an opportunity, The Day’s journalists prepared a number of interesting questions to the respected savant regarding Ukrainian people’s past, present, and future. They spoke about Ukrainians’ consciousness, language problem in our state, spirituality, and the importance of historical knowledge. Our interview with Taras Hunczak will be published in the next issue.
