Disability and Mobile Citizenship in Postsocialist Ukraine

4. Regeneration

regeneration 139 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 (Re)presenting the “In-Valid” On August 11, 2006, several dozen new billboards went up in Kyiv. The billboards were concentrated in those city districts considered most impoverished and least developed—districts such as Troeshchyna, a “down-at-the-heels late Soviet moonscape” (Ruble 2003:139) known for its run-down, massive apartment complexes, burgeoning migrant communities , and sprawling outdoor markets. Normally the billboards would not have caused a stir, since by 2006 Ukrainians had grown accustomed to the barrage of advertising now omnipresent all over post-Soviet cityscapes. In the Soviet Union, the lack of consumer choice and the state’s control over the market and the press obviated the need for advertising, which was minimal and relatively unobtrusive. In Ukrainian cities today, however, it seems that nearly every square inch of public space is plastered with advertisements. Big-bordy (billboards) are part of this advertising frenzy —they line city streets and major roadways to promote all manner of products and services, from cellular phone providers and cars to vodka and cigarettes. Billboards also have become a popular means of promoting candidates for political office; these huge portraits have prompted some to call billboards big-mordy, or big mugs (faces). But the billboard erected on August 11 was different. Unlike the usual colorful and busy ads and “big mugs” that crowd the city, this billboard featured simple white letters and graphics on a somber black background. The sign was divided into two horizontal sections. The top part included just four words: Mama chomu ia urod, or “Mama, why am I a freak?” This text was flanked by a white handprint that, as explained by one of the billboard’s creators, “did not look quite right.”1 The handprint was six4 . Regeneration 140 disability and mobile citizenship in postsocialist ukraine fingered, hexadactyly thus signaling the freakishness or monstrosity of the otherwise disembodied child-narrator. Along the bottom section of the billboard ran the message, “Drug addicts cannot have healthy children” (U narkomaniv ne buvaie zdorovykh ditei). What exactly is an urod? Urod is a Russian word used to insult and demean; one would likely never call another person urod to his or her face. In Smirnitskyi’s Russian-English Dictionary (1987:669) urod is translated variously as freak (of nature); monster; monstrosity; ugly person; and fright. Calling a person urod denies a common humanity. What was the word urod doing on a billboard in the middle of Kyiv? It quickly came to light that an organization called the Association of Outdoor Advertising of Ukraine (Ukr. Asotsiatsiyi Zovnishn’oyi Reklamy Ukrainy, AZR) had commissioned the billboard for its Life is Better without Drugs! campaign. (The firm with the winning bid was called Adam Smith Advertising.) AZR initiated the campaign as part of its ongoing efforts to develop a culture of—and a market for—so-called “social Figure 4.1. Billboard in Kyiv, 2006. “Mama, why am I a freak? . . . Drug addicts cannot have healthy children.” Reproduced with permission from the Association of Outdoor Advertising of Ukraine. regeneration 141 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 advertising” in the country. Public service announcements and social campaigns promoting health, safety, and wholesome lifestyles are rare in Ukraine; there is a culture of resistance to public service messages, which tend to remind many people of Soviet-era propaganda. AZR’s first attempt to stimulate social advertising was in 2005, when it staged a billboard campaign called Let’s Make Love! (Kokhaimosia!). The Let’s Make Love! campaign sought to address Ukraine’s demographic crisis; the country has a negative population growth, with population decreasing from around 52 million in 1991 to an estimated 45.7 million. Unlike the stark, forbidding character of the anti–drug abuse campaign, the Let’s Make Love! billboards incorporated symbols of national pride— “The country needs more football [soccer] players! Let’s Make Love!” They also utilized humor and poked fun at kitschy Soviet propaganda, presumably striving...