World War II or Great Patriotic War remembrance? Crafting the nation in commemorative speeches of Ukrainian presidents

Abstract

In post-Soviet Ukraine, the remembrance of World War II has been one of the key factors in the state-led construction of national identity. This analysis of commemorative speeches on the occasion of Victory Day in Ukraine demonstrates how the presidents of Ukraine attempt to present the war as a national Ukrainian experience, and to produce a feeling of national belonging among Ukrainians who may have had various experiences of the war. By referring to World War II, the speeches portray the war as a common experience of Ukraine and Western European countries, whereas by referring to the Great Patriotic War they depict the war as a common heritage of Ukraine and post-Soviet countries. Such interpretation of the war is visible in the presidential speeches through the use of linguistic means, discursive strategies, and interdiscursivity.

Keywords:

• national identity
• Ukraine
• World War II
• Great Patriotic War
• Victory Day
• discourse analysis

Notes on contributor

Lina Klymenko is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Karelian Institute, University of Eastern Finland, Finland.

Notes

1. Due to unavailability, the speeches of the first president of independent Ukraine, Leonid Kravchuk (1991–1994), were not analyzed.

2. Such speeches are the product of both the authors who write them and state officials who deliver them. Considering the workload of politicians, Ruth Wodak suggests that although it is unlikely that they write their speeches themselves, the person who delivers a speech is also responsible for its content (Wodak et al., 2009, pp. 71–72).

3. See Razumkov survey at http://www.razumkov.org.ua/ukr/poll.php?poll_id=78 (accessed 12 December 2012).

4. See Shevel (2011), Jilge (2006), Jilge (2008), and Portnov (2011), as well as the decree of 20 January 2010 at http://zakon2.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/46/2010 (accessed 14 January 2013) and the decree of 12 October 2007 at http://zakon2.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/965/2007 (accessed 14 January 2013).

5. See Razumkov survey at http://www.razumkov.org.ua/ukr/poll.php?poll_id=286 (accessed 23 May 2013).

Additional information

Funding

The English language proofreading of this article was supported by the European Social Fund and the Regional Council of North Karelia.