Struggle for Liberation: Perception of the Russo-Ukrainian War in Ukraine

Session Submission Type: Panel

Brief Description

This interdisciplinary panel examines the perception of Russo-Ukrainian war in museums, films, music and animation with special attention on how this perception is transmitted domestically and internationally. The panelists will examine museums’ agencies in creating narratives about the ongoing war, representations of women’s bodies in war films, the importance of music in times of military conflict and role animated films play in understanding the war and fostering a conversation about traumatic experience. They will discuss a variety of war narratives ranging from apocalypse and martyrdom to resistance; the main tropes, language and communicative approaches used in portraying the war; gendered experiences of the war; and the effectiveness of cultural heritage during the war. Ultimately, this panel will highlight Ukrainian cultural agency in transmitting knowledge about the Russian full-scale war in Ukraine and underline how effective this cultural contribution is to Ukraine’s struggle for liberation.

Sub Unit

• Anthropology, Cultural Studies

Chair

• Nataliya Shpylova-Saeed, Harvard U

Papers

• War on Display: Exhibiting the Russo-Ukrainian War in Ukrainian Museums - Valentyna Kharkhun, Mykola Hohol State U of Nizhyn (Ukraine) / American University (USA)

• Filming the Female Body in Contemporary Ukrainian War Feature Films - Yuliya V. Ladygina, Pennsylvania State U

• Shaping Political Discourse through the Pop Music Scene: The Influence of Songs from Ukrainian National Liberation Movements and World War II amid the Russo-Ukrainian War - Olga Zaitseva-Herz, U of Alberta (Canada)

• The World Witnessed: Ukrainian Animation at Times of War - Olga Blackledge

Discussant

• Nataliya Shpylova-Saeed, Harvard U