The commemorative activity of ordinary people in Central Ukraine after the Euromaidan
University of Manchester, 2022
Online
Hochschulschrift
Zugriff:
This thesis identifies and analyses the main characteristics of the commemorative activity of ordinary people in Central Ukraine. It demonstrates how ordinary people in the Poltava oblast commemorate two events: the Euromaidan protests (2013-2014) and the Russia-Ukraine conflict (2014-ongoing), focusing on how ordinary people construct physical commemorative objects. This research investigates the commemorative activity of ordinary people in Central Ukraine who are 'activated' to carry out commemorative work by these two turbulent and emotionally charged events in Ukraine's recent history and seek to project their individual, private memories into the public arena. This thesis' central argument is that ordinary people in Central Ukraine actively exercise their agency in the area of commemoration, to ensure the memory of the Euromaidan and the Russia-Ukraine conflict is present in the commemorative landscape, playing an important role in public meaning-making. My research demonstrates that while the need to process traumatic experiences is the main driver behind ordinary people's commemorative work, ordinary people use the overarching narratives of grief and trauma as a foundation for adding other narratives. Thus, by utilising different types of visual language, ordinary people narrate protesters' and soldiers' sacrifice in the name of the nation, presenting the Euromaidan protests and the Russia-Ukraine conflict as righteous and noble struggles. Through linking these two events to other periods of Ukraine's history, they create plotlines of Ukraine's centuries-long struggle for sovereignty and self-determination. Therefore, ordinary people contribute to the construction of narratives about history and the identity of the Ukrainian nation. This thesis is an empirical contribution to the body of knowledge on the commemorative activity of ordinary people as social memory actors. It provides a detailed profile of the ordinary people in the Poltava oblast who carry out commemorative work and an in-depth analysis of the resources they utilise to achieve their commemorative objectives. The thesis investigates how ordinary people use available state mechanisms and shows they demonstrate creativity and persistence to ensure their voices are heard, while also contributing to changing the existing memory paradigm. Additionally, this research offers insights into how the socio-political factors associated with the aftermath of a revolutionary event and an ongoing violent conflict influence ordinary people's agency and their commemorative activity. This thesis contributes to the knowledge of how ongoing violent conflicts are commemorated. My research reveals that when the outcome of a conflict is unknown, ordinary people seek to future-proof their memorials, selecting memorial designs that will disrupt the routinisation of the conflict and help future and present generations interpret the conflict in a particular way.
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The commemorative activity of ordinary people in Central Ukraine after the Euromaidan
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Autor/in / Beteiligte Person: | Glew, Anna ; Ochman, Ewa ; Onuch, Olga |
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Veröffentlichung: | University of Manchester, 2022 |
Medientyp: | Hochschulschrift |
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