The Patriotic Turn and Re-Building Russia’s Historical Memory: Resisting the West, Leading the Post-Soviet East?

When the Past Is Not Another Country: The Battlefields of History in Russia

“…Specifically, they focus on the "patriotic turn" in post-communist Russian politics across the Putin years and Medvedev interregnum, while also exploring the extent to which historical interpretations are similar in Russia and Kazakhstan. They identify two fundamental elements inherent in Russia's memory politics, namely an "anti-Western narrative and the renewed inclusion of the Soviet heritage both temporally and spatially" (Kratochvíl and Shakhanova 2020). Nevertheless, the societal reach of these programs, which mainly target youth, is not a foregone conclusion.…”

“…Approaching their research from the perspective of post-colonial and sub-altern studies, Kratochvíl and Shakhanova find that Russia's mnemonic positions are contested in Kazakhstan, where there is far lower acceptance of the heroic and Russo-centric narrative of World War II. Instead, people there tend to see the conflict as a national tragedy, a war that was peripheral to Kazakhstan's interests but one into which the republic was nonetheless dragged (Kratochvíl and Shakhanova 2020).…”

“…Another type of spatial circulation concerns the supply-side flow of mnemonic frames from producers to potential consumers. For Malinova (2020), this involves the reception and effectiveness of presidential rhetoric; for Kratochvíl and Shakhanova (2020), it centers around the success of military-patriotic education efforts in Russia; for Soroka, the emphasis is on the ability of historians and other academics to translate the historical commission's work to politicians as well as publics. Meanwhile, Gerber and Laruelle (2020) focus on the efficacy of state-led attempts to influence mass opinion, as does Krawatzek (2020).…”

“…Additionally, Kratochvíl and Shakhanova (2020) observe that Russian leaders desire to set the agenda when it comes to historical recall in the post-Soviet space, and that they "are intent on shaping the collective memory of the entire region." However, in order to accomplish this, Russia must essentially deny mnemonic agency to its neighbors.…”

“…Among our contributors, one prominent illustration of this latter mode of movement concerns efforts to inculcate specific historical views in young people, who are the explicit subjects of analysis for Kratochvíl and Shakhanova (2020) as well as Krawatzek (2020), but also figure into Gerber and Laruelle's (2020) research. 33 As Kratochvíl and Shakhanova (2020) explain, Russian youth have been the target of repeated state-led initiatives to promote "patriotic education," reflecting the growing emphasis accorded to the concept of patriotism over the course of the last two decades.…”