Narrating war through visual language
Commemorative activity of ordinary people in Central Ukraine (Poltava oblast) in 2014–2021
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21409782 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Anna Glew (0000-0003-0766-7732, The University of Manchester, UK, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 53 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 392-412 |
| Publication date | 2023-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of European Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0047-2441 • E-ISSN: 1740-2379 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/00472441231206347 |
| OpenAlex | W4388567522 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 17 |
This article examines how ordinary people in the Poltava oblast (Central Ukraine) commemorated the Russia-Ukraine war during the 2014–2021 period (prior to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022). Focusing on physical commemorative objects constructed by ordinary people, this article investigates the commemorative activity of ordinary people in Central Ukraine who are ‘activated’ to carry out commemorative work by this turbulent and emotionally charged event in Ukraine’s recent history and seek to project their individual, private memories into the public arena. This article’s central argument is that ordinary people in Central Ukraine actively exercise their agency in the area of commemoration, to ensure the memory of the Russia-Ukraine war is present in the commemorative landscape, playing an important role in public meaning-making. Thus, by utilising different types of visual language, ordinary people narrate soldiers’ sacrifice in the name of the nation, presenting Ukraine’s response to Russia’s aggression as a righteous and noble struggle. Through linking this event 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 article is an empirical contribution to the body of knowledge on the commemorative activity of ordinary people as social memory actors, and it also contributes to the knowledge of how ongoing violent conflicts are commemorated
Agency (philosophy) · Art · Literature · Narrative · Social science · Sociology · Ukrainian · History · Memory, Trauma, and Commemoration · Military, Security, and Education Studies · Visual Culture and Art Theory
The Politics of War Commemoration in the UK and Russia
The Politics of War Memory and Commemoration
Ordinary People in Extraordinary Times
Commemorations
Fallen Soldiers
Analysing the language of war monuments
Mapping Mass Mobilization
In Search of Ordinary People
Commemorating a Difficult past
Social memories
Collective Memory and Narrative Templates
How Memory was Made
Ordinary people only
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |