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Programme: accepted abstracts

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Abstract ID: 749

Part of Session 133: Ethnicity, Language and Culture in a Post-Soviet Multi-Ethnic City (Other abstracts in this session)

Memory of the Soviet Past in Ukraine. City of Vinnitsa

Authors: Gaidai, Oleksandra
Submitted by: Gaidai, Oleksandra (Institute of History of Ukraine National Academy of Science of Ukraine, Ukraine)

Analyzing the memory policies in contemporary Ukraine we need to take into consideration the fact that transition of one political system into another is a long-term and painful process. The former political system does not vanish, as it has created and left behind immense material and cultural resources, so the new, often less strong system is not able to obliterate or eliminate them completely. One version of the history is being replaced or transformed into another in order to legitimize the new political system. This process raises the following questions: what should be forgotten? What should be preserved? What should be changed? The new model of historical memory is shaped according to the answers to these questions.

The majority of Ukrainian researchers have focused on the historical memory and related policies in such culturally diverse cities as Kyiv, Lviv and Donetsk. Their concepts of historical memory, constructed on that basis, were automatically expanded on the whole geographic regions: West, Center and East. Such approach caused perception of Ukraine divided on Western and Eastern regions with nationalistic and post-Soviet patterns of historical memory respectively. However, such scheme simplifies the real situation.

The main issues examined in the paper are the following:

 1. Definition of the peculiarities of perception of the former Soviet heroes and villains in contemporary historical memory:

a.. Analysis of inclusion or exclusion of the Soviet heroes and politicians (such as Vladimir Lenin and regional heroes and politicians) into/from modern Ukrainian historical memory.

b. Analysis of the perception of Stepan Bandera in different Ukrainian regions.

2.  Examination of the people’s attitude to the Soviet time events.

a. The perception of the Second World War: a great victory or the beginning of occupation?

b. Commemoration of the Soviet festive dates and holidays in contemporary Ukraine: May 1, March 8, February 23.

c. The memory about Soviet athletic and space exploration achievements.

d. Soviet cinema in contemporary Ukraine as the representation of the Soviet way of living.

3. Scrutinizing the process of shaping of memory about the victims of the Soviet authorities as the main basis of national narrative in Ukraine.

a.. The perception of Holodomor.

b.  The memory about deportation and repressions in the Soviet period.

 Using this questions I`ll analyze the historical memory in the city Vinnitsa, the Ukrainian city with the population approximately 450 thousands people. Since Vinnitsa is situated in the central Ukraine and was part of both Russian and Polish states in different times, it has compromise and moderate version of the historical memory, which includes both national and soviet interpretations and symbols.  Also some pages of its history are very problematic, among them the history of Jews.

 This research will be based on the materials of central and regional media; official documents and statements of the state authorities on establishment and commemoration of the nationwide and regional festive dates and holidays; resolutions of the state authorities concerning establishment or destruction of the commemoration sites; results of public opinion polls on historical memory-related issues conducted in Ukraine.