Maidan on Facebook: Sensitive, Expressive and Interpretative Protest Lore
MAIDAN ON FACEBOOK: SENSITIVE, EXPRESSIVE AND INTERPRETATIVE PROTEST LORE by Nataliya Bezborodova A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in UKRAINIAN FOLKLORE Department of Modern Languages and Cultural Studies University of Alberta © Nataliya Bezborodova, 2016 ABSTRACT The thesis traces Internet textual representations of the Maidan, a wide-scale protest movement that took place in 2013-2014 in Ukraine, and their function in identifying the opposing sides during the protests. These texts helped to formulate new narratives, articulate attitudes, and build relationships, create a sense of community within the protestors’ side, which had its impact on institutional changes of commemorative practices. Facebook served as an important platform for the initial appeal, for coordination between the participants, for reflections, and for identification of the opposing sides during the protests. It was a key space for sharing emotions, personal stories, humor and expressive forms of protest, making allusions to known literary works, historical events and world public figures. Exploring the types of narratives and their contribution in identifying the opposing sides, the work is focused on digital stories that illuminate elements not covered by the professional media coverage and official reports. It traces the diverse forms, topics and expressive devices in the narratives, and identifies the categories of lore (eyewitness narratives, (re)telling of stories, jokes, poetry, songs, etc.). It
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