Memoralization of Lenin: Legislation and Attitudes (On the Materials of Kyiv, Vinnytsia and Cherkasy Regions)
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Date
2015
Authors
Gaidai, Oleksandra
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Journal ISSN
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Abstract
Despite more than 20 years of independence, Ukraine’s former political system has not
vanished, as it had created and left behind immense material and cultural resources. The
new, often weaker system is not able to obliterate or eliminate signs of the past completely.
Thus, cleansing or preserving a landscape feature is an act of historical politics and represents
national needs and expectations. In this context, the main question is how do Ukrainian
authorities incorporate the Soviet heritage, in our case political monuments, into the cultural
and public space of modern Ukraine? The present research scrutinizes the politics of memory
towards the Soviet past in contemporary Ukraine. It looks at policies towards Soviet heritage
in political monumental art at the governmental and local levels in central Ukraine. The article
analyses official documents on Soviet heritage in Ukraine, the conditions of its enactment
and the specifics of implementation. Secondly, the research investigates the activities of local
authorities in protecting or demounting Soviet monuments. Finally, the analysis examines the
attitudes of the population, which include both actions and views. The “ground” level analysis
helps us to avoid misleading generalizations in the field of historical politics and discloses the
way that politics of memory is perceived and shared among the population.
Description
Keywords
monument, politics of memory, Lenin, heritage, central Ukraine
Citation
Gaidai Oleksandra. Memoralization of Lenin : Legislation and Attitudes (On the Materials of Kyiv, Vinnytsia and Cherkasy Regions) [electronic resource] / Oleksandra Gaidai // Kyiv-Mohyla Humanities Journal. - 2015. - No. 2. - P. 137–154.