CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2021
| Author | Grachyov, Valeriy Victorovich |
|---|---|
| Title | Nationalism and Collective Memory Politics: Case Studies of Poland and Ukraine |
| Summary | Memory politics today play an important role in international relations. Interpretation and manipulation of controversial events of the past is seen as a simple way of gaining support and projecting power on international stage by national leaders all over the world. In Europe, especially Eastern Europe, the historical period of Second World War and surrounding developments, as well as the image of its participants, remains a cornerstone of national memory. In my thesis I assess the case studies of national memory politics in Poland and Ukraine, centered around most major Polish-Ukrainian clash on the lands of Volyn region in current day north-western Ukraine. I examine the ethnic-symbolical role of this tragic chapter in the history of both nations for Poles and Ukrainians and how memory of Volyn Tragedy was manipulated by contemporary political leadership in Warsaw and Kiev. My argument is structured in the following way. First, I introduce my research question, the theoretical basis of my argument and the case studies that I will assess. My first chapter than is a discussion of main theoretical concepts of nationalism, i.e. the basis of my argument, namely the overview of the concepts of nation and nationalism, Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s concept of nationhood, Oliver Zimmer’s ideas on minorities and nationalism, and Johan Herder’s theory of language as a basis of nation. In my second chapter I assess the place of Volyn Tragedy in Polish national memory and Warsaw’s contemporary memory politics, also through comparison of historical cases of Volyn in 1942-1943 and Bosnia of 1990s. My third chapter is a discussion of collective memory of Poles and Ukrainians from the historical perspective (both in a wider scope and in relation to Volyn events) and significance of Volyn tragedy for contemporary relations between Kiev and Warsaw. Here I assess the positions and actions of Polish and Ukrainian political leadership from 2014 up to present day. |
| Supervisor | Li, Xiang Andrew |
| Department | International Relations MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2021/grachyov_valeriy.pdf |
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