The Burden of the Past: History, Memory, and Identity in Contemporary Ukraine

by Anna Wylegała (Editor), Małgorzata Głowacka-Grajper (Editor)

In a century marked by totalitarian regimes, genocide, mass migrations, and shifting borders, the concept of memory in Eastern Europe is often synonymous with notions of trauma. In Ukraine, memory mechanisms were disrupted by political systems seeking to repress and control the past in order to form new national identities supportive of their own agendas. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, memory in Ukraine was released, creating alternate visions of the past, new national heroes, and new victims. This release of memories led to new conflicts and "memory wars."

How does the past exist in contemporary Ukraine? The works collected in The Burden of the Past focus on commemorative practices, the politics of history, and the way memory influences Ukrainian politics, identity, and culture. The works explore contemporary memory culture in Ukraine and the ways in which it is being researched and understood. Drawing on work from historians, sociologists, anthropologists, psychologists, and political scientists, the collection represents a truly interdisciplinary approach. Taken together, the groundbreaking scholarship collected in The Burden of the Past provides insight into how memories can be warped and abused, and how this abuse can have lasting effects on a country seeking to create a hopeful future.

Genres: History, Ukraine, Nonfiction

320 pages, Hardcover

Published February 11, 2020

Reviews

[Robert Wechsler · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent book to help understand Ukraine and its relationship with Russia/Soviet Union, because the past is still central to Ukrainian nationalism (as it is to Russians, but completely different), both in terms of how things are remembered and what is not remembered at all, except by the old. Essays on memories of a variety of historical moments together show how complex Ukrainian memory is, as is this nation made up of very different areas with different histories of their own. One chapter focuses on the city where my father’s ancestors lived, a mixed area then (Ukrainian, German, and Romanian were major languages, with a few minor ones), and even still, but with a self-image now of an eastern Austro-Hungarian outpost.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

timely read

For those who still wish to gain some perspective on the conflicts and complexities of Ukraine’s emergence as a nation.