CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2022
| Author | Dmitrievskaya, Anastasia |
|---|---|
| Title | Settled Images of the Unsettling Past |
| Summary | In this thesis I investigate the question of what narratives and images of the past the Russian state needs to legitimize and prolong its imperialism, colonialism, and extractivism. In order to detect where these three intersect, I elaborate the notion of osvoenie as a practice of establishing and maintaining dominance over the place. Further, I demonstrate how different tools of osvoenie were employed on the lands of Taimyr Peninsula (Far North) that were first annexed by Muscovy, and then exploited by Imperial, Soviet and Post-Soviet Russian state. In order to find the narratives and images of the past that the Russian state needs to legitimize and prolong its imperialism, colonialism, and extractivism I investigate the Norilsk Museum representation of local history. It tells the stories about indigenous people of Taimyr, Russian conquest and exploration of these lands, and the Gulag camp that was located in Norilsk. I claim that narrating this, the museum produces settled images of the unsettling past, and these images in turn anesthetize the past in order to prolong the violence produced by imperialism, colonialism, and extractivism in the present. Also, I argue that these images and narratives must be considered as tools of osvoenie which means they are the active associates of the Russian state interested in maintaining dominance over the place. |
| Supervisor | Timar, Eszter; Renkin, Hadley Zaun |
| Department | Gender Studies MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2022/dmitrievskaya_anasta.pdf |
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