Language, Memory, and Resistance: Colonial Legacies and Contemporary Struggles

Session Submission Type: Roundtable

Brief Description

This roundtable examines how language has been used as both a tool of imperial control and a site of cultural resistance across post-colonial and post-Soviet contexts. Linguistic assimilation disrupts historical continuity, reshapes national consciousness, and serves as a mechanism for maintaining imperial influence long after formal colonization has ended. By erasing or distorting native languages, state policies not only suppress cultural identity but also impose revisionist historical narratives that redefine a nation’s past on the colonizer’s terms. This discussion brings together perspectives from Belarus, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan to analyze how different societies navigate the ongoing struggle for linguistic sovereignty. Andrei Kureichik will explore how Belarusian theater and cinema have served as spaces of resistance, preserving Belarusian as a cultural and political language despite state repression. Andriej Moskwin will discuss the systematic erasure of Belarusian literary heritage through curriculum policies that marginalize national writers and enforce a state-sanctioned literary canon. Jack Leydiker will examine Kazakhstan’s shifting language policies in response to Russia’s war in Ukraine, highlighting the role of linguistic revival in national self-determination. Olha Tytarenko will analyze the long-term effects of linguistic assimilation in Ukraine and contemporary efforts to reverse centuries of Russification. This roundtable fosters interdisciplinary discussion, allowing participants to compare strategies of resistance, cultural survival, and the role of artistic and political movements in reclaiming linguistic identity. In an era of rising geopolitical tensions, understanding language as both a site of contestation and resilience remains essential to decolonial efforts worldwide.

Sub Unit

• Anthropology, Cultural Studies

Chair

• Vesta Burk Svendsen, Brown U

Roundtable Speakers

• Andrei Kureichyk, U of Chicago

• Jack Leydiker, Yale U

• Andriej Moskwin, U of Warsaw (Poland)

• Olha Tytarenko, Yale U