Śpiewem wskazywać morderców Serhija Żadana oda do wolności (z Schulzem i Słowackim w tle
“Point Out the Murderers by Singing”: Serhiy Zhadan’s Ode to Freedom (with Schulz and Słowacki in the Background

Summary/Abstract: From 24 February 2022 the Ukrainian poet Serhiy Zhadan remains in his hometown of Kharkiv, the second cultural capital of Ukraine. He fights for his city and keeps a war chronicle. Furthermore, he supports military and volunteer units and works for the sake of Ukrainian victory. The first wartime poem written on 15 June 2002 includes a powerful message: “point out the murderers by singing”. In the course of the last year Zhadan published on his Facebook page about 30 poems; a new volume of poetry will be soon available. Both in his war chronicle and poems Serhiy Zhadan writes a Ukrainian ode to freedom, which unexpectedly (or perhaps on the contrary) is close to the Romantic messianism of Juliusz Słowacki. Just like the latter Zhadan is the owner of a perfect flute and remains aware of the mission of playing it, akin to Juliusz Słowacki’s messianic imperative – “it is my fate to sit on tombstones”. The Ukrainian ode also resounds with the voice of Bruno Schulz, equally close to the poet who incessantly ponders whether art is capable of tackling evil or vanquishing it. In a new series of poems: Schulz. Psalms, Zhadan bears witness to the truth both in Schulz’s and his own name. This testimony sounds like a personal story of the poet’s messianic revolt against an indifferent God and, simultaneously, is the history of his love and memory.

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