Open in full screen mode The owner of Pravda Vodka Bar decided to temporarily change the branding and name of her establishment after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Jasmine Daya has also removed Russian names from its menu. The Moscow Mule was thus renamed the Roaring Mule in order to avoid provoking customers. I don't think it's appropriate to erase history, but as an entrepreneur, I can't afford […] to lose my business, she confided.
A few weeks after the invasion of Ukraine, the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) suspended all imports of Russian products, including vodka. Pravda is one of the rare bars in Toronto to always have a few bottles in stock. Once [they] are finished, I won't be able to buy more, explains Jasmine Daya. By email, the LCBO indicated to Radio-Canada that it does not intend to review this policy.
Kate Holland fell in love with Russian literature when she was a teenager. Now a professor at the University of Toronto, she is a specialist in Dostoyevsky's novels. Since February 2022, she says she has spent several sleepless nights wondering about the future of her profession.
Part of the ideology behind the Russian invasion of Ukraine concerns language, literature, culture and history.
A quote from Kate Holland, professor at the University of Ukraine. University of Toronto
In March 2022, when the Russians bombed the Mariupol theater, they installed a screen above it with the faces of Russian writers Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky […]. This is a very striking example of the way literature is politicized by the Russian regime, illustrates Kate Holland, who refuses to become complicit with this regime.
Open in mode fullscreen Kate Holland believes it is important to recognize that Russian literature and culture have a political dimension.
For the first time in her career, this professor was attacked by students who demanded that we stop teaching Russian, associated with the language of the aggressor country. Ms. Holland denied this request, although her department made some changes to her curriculum.
Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky are now taught through the prism of Russian imperialism and Ukrainian authors have been added to the syllabi. We need to better understand the context in which these novels were written, says Kate Holland.
Can we still celebrate Russian culture without apology for the Russian government? Yes, answers the linguist. Instead of removing cultural products, we should add them […], but these nuanced conversations are not easy to have, she admits.
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