The Lame Duck, or Once Again on the Tragedy of East-Central Europe In Krytyka, No. 2 (4), 1998, pp. 4-6.

In her article, Natalka Bilotserkivets refers to the Ukrainian fairy tale about the Lame Duck [Kryvenka Kachechka] as a successful metaphor for understanding the tragedy of Central and Eastern Europe. The moral of the fairy tale is a call not to renounce one's own path and not to succumb to blind imitation of others. In this context, a key question arises: what should Ukraine's path be? The author refers to Milan Kundera's essay The Tragedy of Central Europe, which discusses the shifting intellectual boundaries of Europe. The author emphasizes: Russia is an enemy that Ukrainians will inevitably have to fight in order not to lose themselves. As an example of cultural resistance, she mentions the contemporary Ukrainian music group “VV”, which performs songs in Ukrainian that are full of deep symbolism. In conclusion, the author comes to a metaphorical conclusion: the Ukrainian people are not isolated from the world, they are “spinning feathers” from the experience of others, but they will only “take flight” when they are internally ready to do so.