Remembering the Present: Memorialization of Russo-Ukrainian War in Memorials, Museums, Literature and Rituals I

Session Submission Type: Panel

Brief Description

Since the beginning of Russo-Ukrainian war in 2014, the event has become a subject for memorialization as a turning point in Ukrainian and European history. Then after the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the process of conceptualizing the war through memory creation by constructing war narratives and commemorative rituals was greatly enhanced by a demand for memorialization resonating from within Ukrainian society and foreign public. This panel analyzes the 10 year-long period in which memories were produced about Russo-Ukrainian war, with focus on its dynamic, developments, main features and challenges. While examining memorials, museums, rituals and ceremonies, the panel will study the issues of nation-wide and transnational memory activism, the main memory actors who boosted war memorialization, and the major topics and tropes in creating war narratives. The panel will also discuss how memorialization of Russo-Ukrainian war influences Ukraine’s unity and solidarity; development of a shared sense of belonging in a nationalizing context; functions as testimony, resilience and mourning; and as well promotes cultural diplomacy and cooperation with foreign cultural institutions. More specifically, the participants will discuss the following: both top-down and bottom-up politics of memory and commemoration practices, tactical and strategic memorialization, multidirectional memory and decolonization, heritage diplomacy, overcoming Soviet-style commemoration and creating a new language of commemoration. Ultimately, the participants of the panel will contribute to a discussion of how memory about the Russo-Ukrainian war may potentially change our understanding of Europe’s past, specifically with the perception of WWII and its commemoration.

Sub Unit

• Anthropology, Cultural Studies

Chair

• Olha Khometa, U of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Papers

• Strategic and Tactic Commemoration in Ukraine after 2022 - Oksana Dovgopolova, Kyiv School of Economics (Ukraine)

• Exploring the Rise of a New Memorial Culture in Ukraine Amid the Russo-Ukrainian War and Decolonization - Anton Liagusha, Kyiv School of Economics (Ukraine)

• Writing on the Edge: Memory about the Russo-Ukrainian War in Ukrainian Women's Dramaturgy - Oleksandra G. Shtepenko, Interregional Academy of Personnel Management (Ukraine)

Discussant

• Yeva Yakubovska, Pilecki Inst Berlin (Germany)