In the Margins of Memory: Gender and Historical Narratives in Central and Eastern Europe

Session Submission Type: Panel

Brief Description

This panel explores the intersections of gender, memory, and historical narratives in Eastern Europe, focusing on the often-overlooked roles of women and gender minorities in shaping, resisting, and being erased from dominant historical discourses. Using an intersectional approach, the panel examines how gender, identity, and politics converge in contested spaces of cultural and historical memory. Through a focus on various moments of resistance, this panel examines how gendered experiences contribute to the creation and preservation of memory in politically charged contexts. It highlights the importance of marginalized voices in resisting erasure and rewriting collective narratives. By emphasizing gendered resistance across national, transnational, and cultural boundaries, the papers contribute to a broader understanding of how gendered memory practices are integral to the formation of both national and global histories. This panel also interrogates how memory itself plays a central role in the formation of national, ethnic, and political identities. It looks at how historical narratives are shaped by gender, and how gendered actors, often pushed to the margins, navigate and challenge dominant historical frameworks. In doing so, it offers new perspectives on the power dynamics of memory-making and resistance in Eastern Europe and beyond.

Sub Unit

• Gender/LGBTQ Studies

Chair

• Iulia Statica, U of Sheffield (UK)

Papers

• Contemporary Polish LGBTQ Resistance: Activism through Performance - Sofia Bachman, Ohio State U

• Between Fear and Resistance: How Russian Fulbright Students Navigate War, Identity, and Exile - Violetta Soboleva, CUNY Graduate Center

• Ink and Influence: Women as Guardians of Memory in 19th-Century Serbian Communities - Dragana Zivkovic, Florida State U

Discussant

• Hanna Baranchuk, Curry College