War and Memory: The transformation of narrative memorial practices

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of current changes that are taking place in connection with the  Russian-Ukrainian war and the transformation of narrative memorial practices in Ukrainian literature and artistic practices. The focus of attention is on both traditional practices of documenting the memory of the war, as well as those that reinterpret and revive memory in the digital space and the context of the development of new media art. The research is intellectually supported by trauma studies and memory studies, which investigate digital transformations of memory through the prism of new experiences of forming narrative memorial practices. The object of the study was the poetry collections of Victoria Amelina’s “Testimony,” Maksym Kryvtsov’s “Poems from the Hole,” Artur Dron’s “We Were Here,” Kateryna Kalytko’s “People with Verbs,” etc, as well as collection of Ostap Slivnsky “Dictionary of War” and digital projects — online exhibition “One More Day. War Diaries” and “Unwritten.” From the perspective of the development of new media, the change in the mechanisms of the formation of the narrative about traumatic events is shown; it is demonstrated that in the digital space, remembering is based on an immersive experience, which involves the emotional involvement of the recipient in the memory of the trauma. Digital media reinterprets individual memory as  a  separate example of  remembering and actualizing collective memory, creating foundations for forming a community of memory on a broad basis and with the wide involvement of recipients. It has been proven that in Ukraine, the memory of the Russian-Ukrainian war is formed in the discourse of 1) traditional memorial practices of commemoration (a minute of remembrance, publication of memories, unpublished works, establishment of public events or scholarships in honor of a fallen soldier, etc); 2) digital memorial practices that actualize the text dimension of memory and immersive practices of emotional involvement in the digital space of memory. This provides an opportunity to  combine the personal and collective experience of experiencing the Russian-Ukrainian war, promotes the consolidation of Ukrainians around the memory, and forms solidarity in the perception and interpretation of the traumatic experience.