Book Discussion: The Memory of the Second World War in Soviet and Post-Soviet Russia, by ed. David L. Hoffmann

Session Submission Type: Book Discussion Roundtable

Brief Description

This panel showcases research from an interdisciplinary volume on Soviet and Russian World War II memorialization. The volume examines continuities and differences in how the war has been represented in the Soviet and post-Soviet eras. It also describes how official commemorations of the war have served to legitimate political power and shape Russian national identity. Panelists will address the following topics: wartime Russo-centric propaganda and its ideological legacy in the postwar era; the tensions between individual and collective memory as shown in veteran-writers’ war remembrance amidst changing literary landscapes in Soviet and post-Soviet Russia; the political utility of war memorialization in Sevastopol under both the Soviet government and the Putin regime.

Sub Unit

• History: 1945-1990

Chair

• David L. Hoffmann, Ohio State U

Roundtable Speakers

• Angela Brintlinger, Ohio State U

• Jonathan Brunstedt, Texas A&M U

• Lisa A. Kirschenbaum, West Chester U

• Karl D. Qualls, Dickinson College