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History, Memory, and the Second World War in Belarus *
Author(s) -
Marples David R.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
australian journal of politics and history
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.123
H-Index - 23
eISSN - 1467-8497
pISSN - 0004-9522
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8497.2012.01646.x
Subject(s) - fortress (chess) , hero , german , nationalism , narrative , interpretation (philosophy) , historical memory , mythology , collective memory , history , world war ii , spanish civil war , media studies , political science , sociology , literature , humanities , law , art , ancient history , classics , politics , archaeology , computer science , programming language
The paper examines the role of the German‐Soviet war in nation‐building in Alyaksandr Lukashenka's Belarus through the medium of contemporary popular narratives (media, movies, documentaries), monuments, and historical sites. After highlighting some examples in the former two categories, it focuses specifically on myth‐making at three key historic sites – the Brest Hero Fortress, the Liniya Stalina museum, and the Khatyn historic complex – outlining the correlation between the official interpretation of wartime events at these sites and construction of modern‐day Belarusian civic nationalism and nation building; the forging of links between veterans and youth for the evolution of memory into post‐memory; and the elimination all vestiges of what is termed “historical revisionism”.