12 12 2000
Andrea Hapke:
re:Valentina (Translation from Russian)
Dear women.
DearValentina,
at the beginning, I want to express my joy that you have written to us and
that you are following our discussions in spite of your hard situation.
Of course, my joy is split, and I wish you all the best from my heart.
Concerning intellectuals, I understand this as the appeal to us all for finding some kind of common language, or in any case a close one. Myself, I incline towards complicated theories, with which I am trying to react to the "complexity" of the world - but haven't we begun this conversation with the wish to get to know about each other and to change oneselves, as Irina Aristarkhova has been writing. And it seems to me that I have learned a lot in the last two weeks, thinking about how we have begun this discussion and how it is developing at the moment.
"I would be interested in sharing my thoughts about the movement, about how the IDEA is changing what hierarchies and power are in women's groups etc."
I am really interested in your thoughts about this theme, especially
regarding the last 10 years in Russia (or better to say in Moscow),
because I mainly know this development from texts and from short meetings
in different women's centers.
What do you mean by IDEA?
I have been thinking a lot about hierarchies and power in women's groups,
especially in regard of our commune about which Jana and I have written
in our first letter.
I have understood that we cannot reject the fact that they exist.
We have been trying to recognize them as well as our differences and to
take them as the topic of our discussions.
But I have to admit that we often haven't succeeded.
There are these dynamics in such groups that they are being based on
dissociation from something exterior and at the same time the wish
for harmonization of the interior is growing.
Sometimes we were talking about that family or clan structures are
emerging in our circles.
In connection to this I find the thoughts by Irina
Aristarkhova about hospitality in "communities" and "net communities" very interesting.
This suggestion or way of thinking reveals to me the possibility to meet the Other in an hospitable way and not to dissociate myself from him as from
the other, but also not to take him for the same as myself...
But the practice and realization of this idea concerns us all again
and also the situation of our conversation.
Yesterday, I began writing a letter about "nationalization".
But I just have read the letter by Jana and am thinking: yes.
I want to stress that I wish to talk about contexts, about different
experiences, about the realizations of existence.
And not about hard positions. And that is one thing I have learned: that
it were positions I have been writing about, although with a smile...
But it seems to me that the situation has already changed. Although thanks
to the fact that there are more voices from different places of the world.
But it's time to enter the discussion and to concretely answer to your letters.
At the beginning I would like to answer to the letter by Irina Aktuganova from Petersburg. But as it will take some time, I will now send this letter with my answer to Valentina.
Dear Valentina, I would be very glad to hear more from you, but I will also understand if this is not possible.
With good greetings to all, I am writing more.
Andrea