Conversation on Ukraine, War, and Memory for Students

Sofia Andrukhovych, Ukrainian novelist and journalist, reflects on the meaning of writing amidst destruction and the responsibility of preserving collective memory. The conversation takes place at the Centre d’Estudis i Recursos Culturals – Pati Manning, in El Raval. War annihilates memory, both individual and collective. What role does literature play against oblivion and destruction? What do we risk when we lose memory, identity, and history? The ancient Lake Amadoca, which mysteriously vanished in the 17th century, lends its name to Andrukhovych's latest novel and becomes a metaphor for the danger of erasing entire worlds and cultures. Ukraine's tragic history serves as a starting point for a broader reflection on what a society remembers, erases, and how violence endures.