One Story at a Time: Communicating the Impacts of the Russo-Ukrainian War through Personal Testimony across Different Media and Audiences

Session Submission Type: Roundtable

Brief Description

The unprecedented circumstances of the bloodiest war in Europe since 1945, Ukraine’s fight against the Russian aggressors and the massive displacement of Ukrainian civilians created momentum for a deeper reflection on the democratic foundations of a crisis-ridden Europe. Wartime testimonies from Ukraine have a great potential to convey a lesson on the value of humanity, sovereignty and human rights, the lesson that can be incorporated and interpreted not only by academic research but also by a broad range of stakeholders in both Ukraine and beyond.

Over two years, since the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, 2022, we have witnessed an unprecedented explosion of personal reflectivity and testimonial accounts of the whole spectre of war-related experiences ranging from shocking atrocities to outstanding acts of heroism. In this sea of personal testimony production, as founders and leaders (some of us) of Witnessing the War in Ukraine Summer Institute, now held annually in Poland since 2022, we have been privileged to observe the rapidly evolving dynamics within the field of personal testimony documentation, research and cultural mobilization through literature, film, arts and theatre.

In our round table, engaging with literary studies, performance studies, cultural studies, ethnology, oral history and area studies, the speakers will revisit this dynamic field of testimony documentation, production and mobilization, focusing on (a) specific academic, art and knowledge mobilization projects and (b) the overall question “how Ukrainian testimonies are created, transmitted and interpreted across international borders.”

Sub Unit

• Anthropology, Cultural Studies

Chair

• Tatiana Vagramenko, U College Cork (Ireland)

Roundtable Members

• Alina Doboszewska, Jagiellonian U (Poland)

• Natalia Khanenko-Friesen, U of Alberta (Canada)

• Oleksandr Pankieiev, U of Alberta (Canada)

• Oksana Khomiak, National U of "Kyiv-Mohyla Academy" (Ukraine)