How it Works and How it Helps To Understand the Russian Population’s Mindset During the Invasion in Ukraine

On 21 February, Studium Generale welcomes Nikolay Epplée, Alexander Gubsky, and Hubert Smeets for a lecture followed by a panel discussion about the ways in which the memory of Stalinism affects the Russian people’s view on the invasion of Ukraine.Three days before 24 February, the day on which the invasion of Ukraine started, and two days before the national militarist holiday known in the time of the USSR as the “Soviet Army Day” and today as “Defender of the Fatherland Day”, our guests will discuss the Russian people’s collective perceptions of the past and present, the political mood in contemporary Russia, and how these sentiments are affected by censorship and unfree media.

This event is organized together with prof.dr. Jaap de Jong, Professor of Journalism and New Media, Leiden University.

Program

The memory of Soviet state terror helps to explain contemporary Russians’ collective feelings about the invasion into Ukraine. This memory is a palimpsest of narratives promoted by numerous actors among which Kremlin’s “patriotic” memory and the recent Nobel Peace Prize laureate Memorial’s “critical” one are solely the two most visible.  

There are a lot of speculations about what the Russian population thinks about the war against Ukraine: the assessments range from the «total support» to the «broad tacit rejection». In this lecture, Nikolay Epplee proposes to move from the problematic discussions of opinion polls towards understanding cultural and societal implications of the Soviet terror’s memory, including distrustful loyalty to the state and power, cynicism about politics, fear of social cooperation.

Signing up and livestream

Registration is not required, but appreciated. Please sign up here.

This event will be livestreamed. The link to the livestream will be posted here shortly before the event.

More information

• collective memory
• fake news & disinformation
• historical memory
• history and memory
• history of russia
• journalism
• journalism and new media
• memory studies
• news and public opinion
• newspapers
• political violence and its representation in propaganda
• politics in russia
• propaganda
• russia
• russian
• russian and slavic linguistics