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Andrey Kurkov: navigating war, fiction and Ukrainian identity

The full-scale war in Ukraine has left local writers in a difficult position. While many have traditionally focused on writing fiction, the demands of the conflict have seen their work delve more into the pressing needs of the country. On a personal level, however, fiction often remains a refuge in an uncertain world.

October 16, 2024 - Joshua Kroeker - Articles and Commentary

Andrey Kurkov. Photo: Joshua R. Kroeker 

Andrey Yuryevich Kurkov is one of Ukraine’s most famous contemporary authors. Originally born in the Soviet city of Leningrad, he and his family relocated to Kyiv when he was only two years old. Since then, Kurkov has lived in Ukraine. Over the years, he trained as a translator, worked for the Soviet police, and served as a prison guard in Odesa. Today, he is best known for his surrealist novels, which delve into the complexities of Soviet and post-Soviet Ukraine, blending dark humour with insightful commentary. 

At a café not far from Kyiv’s famous Golden Gate, Andrey Kurkov met with me for a coffee to discuss his work, Russia’s war against Ukraine, the struggles facing art and literature at such a time, and the many changes that have taken place in Ukraine since February 2022. The following are excerpts from that conversation:

Kurkov is best known for his novels, such as Death and the Penguin and Grey Bees. Though he is an ardent writer of commentary and non-fiction, his works of fiction have captured the attention and imagination of many worldwide. Yet for him, Russia’s full-scale invasion has prevented him from continuing that work. Kurkov explained that he “had been writing the third novel about 1919 when the full-scale invasion began. And actually, on the first day, I realized I cannot write fiction anymore. Because there was a very deep feeling that it’s a guilty pleasure to write fiction at a time of bombing and of war”.

Kurkov immediately began writing commentaries on the war and giving interviews abroad. His role as a public intellectual has made him a regular voice in foreign media. “I was immediately asked to give commentaries about what is happening in Ukraine and I switched to writing non-fiction. I have always been writing diaries but then I started writing texts which are like a fusion between diaries and essays, about sort of personal issues. For a year and a half, I have been writing every day only this kind of text […] it was a very strange feeling that you just forget about everything. You concentrate on the war and the text,” he explained.

Despite this shift, Kurkov’s passion remains with fiction, a form of solace during dark times. “When I write fiction, I feel much happier because fiction [is a] complete detachment from reality. I mean it’s just like when I managed to get into a novel, so it’s like a small holiday from the war. It’s a vacation. So, while you are writing, you are in 1919, also in a very terrible situation, but it’s fiction. So it’s not something you are physically involved in,” Kurkov said, referring to the novel he was writing when Russia launched its campaign of destruction on February 24th 2022.

Unique for an author of his stature, Andrey Kurkov writes his books in the Russian language. This has meant that over the years, despite much of his work being translated and sold in the Ukrainian language, his Ukrainian audience has its limits. Kurkov explained that “In general, I accept it. I mean, I regularly had problems because I write in Russian. But they were never serious problems. And actually, after 2012, my books were coming out at the same time in Russian and Ukrainian. And some books would sell better in Ukrainian translation than in Russian. With the war, it became much more difficult, of course.”

Kurkov’s prominence as a public intellectual has not waned. He frequently travels to the EU, US and Canada to support Ukraine. He is unperturbed by being blacklisted in Russia after his 2013 novel The President’s Last Love featured a character similar to Vladimir Putin annexing Crimea. When asked if he had the option of selling his books in Russia to show the Russian people the realities of what is happening now in Ukraine, or if Ukrainians should be pushing for Russians to change, Kurkov responded frankly that “the country is mainly supporting Putin so I don’t want to consider them my potential readers […] Russians should work with Russians to change them. Those Russians who are now calling themselves the opposition and based in the West – they should go back and change them. Because they will not change them from Berlin or from New York.”

When discussing the changes in Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion, Kurkov highlighted that on the one hand, “the shaping of the political nation and this kind of feeling of brotherhood from the beginning of the full-scale invasion in the first eight to ten months” was a new phase for Ukrainian culture and its identity. On the other hand, however, the “negative is the radicalization of the intellectual society of Ukraine and dividing into groups, hating each other, provoking scandals. I mean the whole habit of provoking scandals, especially provoking linguistic scandals, it became institutionalized, so people think when they provoke it that they are working for the future of Ukraine. […] they don’t want to realize that actually change does not come so quickly.”

Regarding the question of Ukraine’s linguistic development over the past few years, Kurkov clarified that “Yes, until 1934, Kharkiv was Ukrainian-speaking and Lviv was Polish-speaking. And today, actually before the full-scale invasion, Lviv was mostly Ukrainian-speaking and Kharkiv was Russian-speaking. Now because of the influx of refugees from the east into western Ukraine, there is more Russian language in Galicia, in west Ukraine, in Lviv. And physically less Russian speakers in the east because many of them have been killed and those who survived have found refuge in Europe. So, to imagine that you can make Ukraine totally Ukrainian-speaking overnight is a crazy idea.”

Andrey Kurkov’s experience mirrors that of many Ukrainians, navigating life and work amid the constant threat of war and bombings while supporting the country’s defence efforts where possible. Like others, he faces the complexities of linguistic adaptation and the rapid evolution of Ukrainian society. As with his writing, the war is reshaping how people live and cope with this new reality. While much has been lost, new opportunities also emerge. Yet, society remains in a state of flux – changing for better or worse as the conflict continues.

For the time being, Kurkov’s wonderful use of surrealism within the Ukrainian subject remains a casualty of Russia’s war. As he explained, his ability to write fiction has been limited by the attacks, the bombings and the sirens. When asked if he intends to write a novel based on what is and has been happening to Ukraine in the last two and a half years, he lamented that “maybe one day the idea will come but now I don’t feel like writing about the contemporary situation in fiction. Somehow there is a block in front of me in trying to create fiction based on this reality.”

As Ukraine continues to grapple with war, Andrey Kurkov’s journey reflects the broader challenges facing the nation’s artists and intellectuals. His struggle to balance the demands of reality with the desire for creative expression underscores the profound impact of the conflict at both personal and cultural levels.

Joshua R. Kroeker is an independent researcher, founder of the boutique analytic firm Reaktion Group, an analyst at the political analysis project R.Politik, and an editor at RANE. He holds degrees from the University of British Columbia in Canada, Heidelberg University in Germany and St Petersburg State University, Russia. @jrkroeker on Twitter.


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