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Between History and Memory: Cultural War in Contemporary Russian and Ukrainian Cinema

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199 pages

Title
  • Between History and Memory: Cultural War in Contemporary Russian and Ukrainian Cinema
Date modified
  • 11/05/2025
Creator
Abstract
  • Any approach to the past tailors our perception of the present, which is in turn inevitably elusive and unstable. The present is a site of contestation between memory and history, as well as a site for recounting the distant past by reflecting it through the prism of the present. The transition from the Soviet Union to independent states in 1991 triggered tensions within these newly created nation-states, with the collective and individual past being given a range of new interpretations. The connection between memory and identity obtained a renewed force. Russian ideologists have often considered Ukraine as an inalienable part of Russia; the disintegration of the Soviet Union implied only a formal separation in a common Russian worldview. Meanwhile, the new national policy of Ukraine was frequently oriented towards independence and closer cooperation with the European Union. Contrasting memories about the past contributed to the tension between the two Slavic peoples, which, paradoxically, turned out to be productive in terms of self-definition of Russians and Ukrainians. In this context, contemporary Russian and Ukrainian historical films aim to capture a past that is immediately relevant to the needs of the ever-changing present. Three issues—the location of filmmakers’ loyalties (evident in content and technique, as well as suggested by patterns of funding and shooting location); historical emphases; and neglect of historical facts with emphasis on others—are the focus of attention in this research. The dissertation examines the ways in which historical film is used by state authorities to construct cultural identities, wherein contemporary films generate discourses that make history a site of contestation, most frequently (but not exclusively) between Ukrainian nationalism and Russian imperial ambitions. The research resides at the intersection of three fields: memory as a custodial practice, with film as a lieu de mémoire; the Russian imperial project; and the formation of specific ideologies about the shared past.
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Date created
Identifier
Keyword
Language
Resource type
Degree discipline
  • Slavic Languages and Literatures
Degree grantor
  • University of Pittsburgh
Degree level
  • Doctoral
Degree name
  • Doctor of Philosophy
Rights statement

MLA citation style (9th ed.)

Shlikhar, Tetyana. Between History and Memory: Cultural War In Contemporary Russian and Ukrainian Cinema. . 2020. d-scholarship.pitt.edu/concern/etds/fd3684b4-597f-4c4e-ba41-e03ecdf5899a.

APA citation style (7th ed.)

S. Tetyana. (2020). Between History and Memory: Cultural War in Contemporary Russian and Ukrainian Cinema. https://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/concern/etds/fd3684b4-597f-4c4e-ba41-e03ecdf5899a

Chicago citation style (CMOS 17, author-date)

Shlikhar, Tetyana. Between History and Memory: Cultural War In Contemporary Russian and Ukrainian Cinema. 2020. https://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/concern/etds/fd3684b4-597f-4c4e-ba41-e03ecdf5899a.

Note: These citations are programmatically generated and may be incomplete.

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