CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2022
| Author | Golubkov, Gleb |
|---|---|
| Title | Inventing the Tradition? Commemoration Practices of the Victory Day in Contemporary Russia |
| Summary | This paper addresses the role of the state in shaping newly appeared commemoration rituals. Building a theoretical framework which combines the concept of collective memory and national holi-days as social rituals which frame its content, this work considers the two practices of the Victory Day in Russia, namely the use of St. George’s ribbon and the Immortal Regiment. Tracing the histori-cal evolution of the Victory Day, this work argues that under the current Russian regime, it became predisposed for intervention of state which invents new practices to sustain itself. It is argued that the use of the ribbon presents an example of the invented tradition, as it was introduced for momentary political aims of the regime and does not have a direct continuity with the Great Patriotic War. In con-trast, the case of the Immortal Regiment is more complicated because it was started as an initiative from the civil society and only then was appropriated by the state, changing its meaning and purposes. Thus, it is argued that the Immortal Regiment might come as not an invented tradition, but as a com-memorative practice which is free from state’s intervention. |
| Supervisor | Thomas Fetzer, PhD |
| Department | International Relations MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2022/golubkov_gleb.pdf |
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