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TracesoftheSovietUnion,WojciechGórecki
Opinion&Analysis
15
Itwasaplacemostlyattendedbytruckdrivers,amajorityofthemTurks.Atfirst
myfriendwasmistakenforaTurk.However,whenheexplainedthathewasactu-
allyPolish,theowner–ayoungKyrgyzguy–almostthrewhisarmsaroundhim,
screaming:uFinally,ourSlavicbrotherishere!”Clearly,forthisguytheimagined
ideologicalcommunity,whichwasdeeplyrootedintheUSSRandthesenseof
familiaritythatithadgenerated,wasmuchmoreimportantthantherealethnic
community(theKyrgyzarerelatedtotheTurksandhaveactuallylittleincom-
monwithSlavs).
ArtistsfromtheSputnikphotogroupalsosharemanysimilarstories.Listen-
ingtothemgivesyouasensethattheyareportrayingadistinctucivilisation”(oe-
cumene),whichisneitherEuropeannorAsian,andneitherwesternnoreastern.
Tereforethequestionthatcomestomindis:ifthere
issuchacivilisation(oecumene),maybeweshouldno
TeSovietUnion
longertalkaboutthepost-Sovietspaceandjustsim-
hasnotfully
plyrefertoitastheSovietspace?
collapsed.Its
Iwoulddisagreewiththisassertion,nonetheless.
TeSovietUnionnolongerexists.Whatweareseeing
collapseisstill
nowisrathersomethingofauSovietafterlife”
.Iwould
takingplace.
admitthoughthatitiscorrecttosaythattheUSSR
hasnotfullycollapsedandthatitscollapseisstilltakingplace.Someclaimthatthe
laststrawoftheAustro-HungarianEmpire’scollapsewasthedivisionofCzecho-
slovakia,orthattheendoftheOttomanEmpirewasbroughtaboutwiththean-
nouncementofKosovo’sindependence;ifthesecasesareplausible,perhapswecan
arguethatthecollapseoftheSovietUnionisalsoaprocessandnotjustonesin-
gleevent.Tiswouldseemtomeanthattheprocessbegansometimeduringthe
mid-1980swiththebeginningoftheArmenian-AzerbaijaniconflictoverNagorno-
Karabakhandthatithasbeenunfoldingthroughtoday.Oneofitsstageswould
alsoappeartoincludetheRussianinterventioninUkraineandthewarinDonbas.
Apromisedland?
FormanytheendoftheSovietUnionwasatraumaticandpersonaltragedy.
Eventodaywecanmeetthosewhomisstheoldtimesandtalkaboutthemwith
greatnostalgia.TeyareoftenlabelledasHomosovieticuswhiletheirfeelingsare
explainedintermsofbeinganuescapefromfreedom”
.Tetruth,however,isthat
thepost-Sovietspaceinthe1990ssawcrises,povertyand,insomeareas,war.
TesignsofthiscivilisationalregresscanalsobefoundintheSputnikproduc-
tions,especiallyLTA3ortheFruitGarden.Teyweretobeseeninanexhibition,
