In the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine history is used as an important resource in mobilising opinion. The Putin regime denies the Ukrainian state’s right to exist, claiming it to be an artificial Bolshevik invention and recently describing the political elite in Kyiv as the successors to the Nazi collaborator Bandera. In Ukrainian discourse the current war is viewed by many as the last link in a chain of 300 years of continuous Russian aggression. Putin is nicknamed ‘Putler’ and described as the re-incarnation of Hitler, and discussions on the current Russian war of annihilation evoke parallels with the war of annihilation conducted by the Germans in Ukraine.
All this we know, however what is less well known is how such historic recollections are taken up and processed by the general public. Analysing memes, which young people particularly not only view as passive consumers but also contribute to as co-creators, may offer some initial insights. They also shape the imaginations of young people in Ukraine and Russia, have a central role in the construction of digital communities and are important tools in the articulation of dissent.
Aims
With the above background in mind, the two main aims of the project are:
- To firstly view and discuss Ukrainian and Russian memes on the current war that include historical references, in interdisciplinary data sessions that comprise a range of nationalities, in order to reconstruct which historic events or protagonists are most frequently referenced and to gauge the breadth of each articulated position.
- In a second step the project team will work with the GEI ‘Zwischentöne’ (nuances) team to develop a teaching unit addressing the memes, which can be implemented transnationally. By working with three organisations ((EPIZ, DRA; Euroclio), who each have excellent contacts to schools and/or teachers in Germany, Central Eastern Europe and the post-soviet space, these teaching units can be introduced into schools.
