• Why is it necessary to represent the nation?

• Who/what represents the Polish, Ukrainian, Russian nation?

• What can national symbols tell us about the self-image of a nation?

• Have the national narratives in Russia, Poland, Ukraine changed after the fall of communism?

 

Essential Reading

Raack, R.C., ‘Historiography as Cinematography: A Prolegomenon to Film Work for Historians’, Journal of Contemporary History, 18 (1993), pp. 411-438.

Boym, Svetlana, ‘From the Russian Soul to Post-Communist Nostalgia’, Representations, 49 (1995), pp. 133-166.

Platt, Kevin M.F., ‘History, Inertia, and the Unexpected: Recycling Russia’s Despots’, Common Knowledge, 10 (2004), pp. 130-150.

Plokhy, Serhii, ‘The Ghosts of Pereyaslav: Russo-Ukrainian Historical Debates in the Post-Soviet Era’, Europe-Asia Studies, 53 (2001), pp. 489-505.

Ash, Timothy Garton, ‘The Twin’s New Poland’, The New York Review of Books 53 (9/2/2006).

Additional Reading

Schleifman, Nurit, ‘Moscow’s Victory Park: A Monumental Change’, History and Memory, 13 (2001), pp. 5-34.

Brandenberger, David, ‘The Popular Reception of S.M. Eisenstein’s Aleksandr Nevskii’, in Brandenberger/Platt, Epic Revisionism, pp. 233-252.

Tolz, Vera, ‘Conflicting ‘Homeland Myths’ and Nation-State Building in Postcommunist Russia’, Slavic Review, 57 (1998), pp. 267-294.