Three Books and Resistance to the Nihilism of Aggressive Warfare

The Kyiv publishing house Spirit and Letter (Дух і літера) is preparing to publish three books that are especially important for the Ukrainian people.

The first book presents Arvo Pärt’s creative universe in Ukrainian. In it, the composer’s voice and thoughts reveal in great depth the significance for Estonia, Ukraine and the world of the eternally new music of humanity. Another book is focused on the vulnerability of life as the leitmotif of the new stage of Valentin Silvestrov’s creativity. The Ukrainian composer raises the question of “numb songs” and “music without words” in the midst of Putin’s nihilistic war against reality and language (logos).

The third book reveals our dialog with philosopher and prisoner of conscience Ihor Kozlovsky, who was released in an exchange from Russian captivity after 700 days of torturous imprisonment. With remarkable courage, Kozlovsky witnesses his resistance to radical attempts to destroy human dignity. He developed the idea of three books-worlds. The world as text (macrocosm), the human being as text (microcosm), and the biblical text of symbols. Historical events offer each of us the opportunity to rediscover the connections between these three “books.” In what ways is the microcosm of the personal book comparable and connected to the biblical text or the macrocosm of the world book?

We are invited to reflect together on the question: how do texts literally and figuratively open up new ways of worthy reading and action in our common space?

Konstantin Sigov is director of the Center for European Studies at Kyiv’s Mohyla University, director of the Dukh et Litera publishing house, and correspondent of the philosophy section of the Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques. He received the Grand Prix from the Académie Française and was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Université Marseille Aix-en-Provence (2024). He is a laureate of the SOGEDA program. Latest publications: Quand l’Ukraine se lève. La naissance d’une nouvelle Europe, Paris, Talent Éditions, 2022; Le Courage de l’Ukraine. Une question pour les Européens, Paris, Éditions du Cerf, 2023; Für Deine und meine Freiheit. Europäische Kriegserfahrungen in Kyjiw, Stuttgart, ibidem-Verlag, 2024.

The lecture will be in English, with interpretation into Estonian.