Title Page Between History and Memory: Cultural War in Contemporary Russian and Ukrainian Cinema by Tetyana Shlikhar B.A. in Philology and Translation, Taras Shevchenko National University, Ukraine, 2005 M.A. in Translation Studies, Taras Shevchenko National University, Ukraine, 2006 Ph.D. in Translation Studies, Taras Shevchenko National University, Ukraine, 2010 M.A. in Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Pittsburgh, 2016 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2020 Committee Page UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH DIETRICH SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES This dissertation was presented by Tetyana Shlikhar It was defended on July 31, 2020 and approved by David Birnbaum, Professor, Slavic Languages and Literatures Vladimir Padunov, Associate Professor, Slavic Languages and Literatures Randall Halle, Professor, German Dissertation Director: Nancy Condee, Professor, Slavic Languages and Literatures ii Copyright © by Tetyana Shlikhar 2020 iii Abstract Between History and Memory: Cultural War in Contemporary Russian and Ukrainian Cinema Tetyana Shlikhar, PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2020 Any approach to the past tailors our perception of the present, which is in turn inevitably elusive and unstable. The present is a site of contestation between memory and history, as well as a site for recounting the distant past by reflecting it through the prism of the present. The transition from the Soviet Union to independent states in 1991 triggered tensions within these newly created nation-states, with the collective and individual past being given a range of new interpretations. The connection between memory and identity obtained a renewed force. Russian ideologists have often considered Ukraine as an inalienable part of Russia; the disintegration of the Soviet Union implied only a formal separation in a common Russian worldview. Meanwhile, the new national policy of Ukraine was frequently oriented towards independence and closer cooperation with the European Union. Contrasting memories about the past contributed to the tension between the two Slavic peoples, which, paradoxically, turned out to be productive in terms of self-definition of Russians and Ukrainians. In this context, contemporary Russian and Ukrainian historical films aim to capture a past that is immediately relevant to the needs of the ever-changing present. Three issues—the location of filmmakers’ loyalties (evident in content and technique, as well as suggested by patterns of funding and shooting location); historical emphases; and neglect of historical facts with emphasis on others—are the focus of attention in this research. The dissertation examines the ways in which historical film is used by state authorities to construct cultural identities, wherein contemporary iv films generate discourses that make history a site of contestation, most frequently (but not exclusively) between Ukrainian nationalism and Russian imperial ambitions. The research resides at the intersection of three fields: memory as a custodial practice, with film as a lieu de mémoire; the Russian imperial project; and the formation of specific ideologies about the shared past. v Table of Contents 1.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 The Controversies of Memory and History ................................................................. 6 1.2 Cultural Memory Vs. Collective Memory .................................................................. 14 1.3 The Dynamics of Cultural Memory ............................................................................ 20 1.4 Contested Memories ..................................................................................................... 26 1.5 Memory and Historical Film ....................................................................................... 33 2.0 Myths of Ancient Rus .......................................................................................................... 39 2.1 Andrei Kravchuk. The Viking (2016)......................................................................... 42 2.2 Iurii Kulakov. Prince Vladimir (2005) ....................................................................... 47 2.3 Dmitrii Korobkin. Iaroslav. A Thousand Years Ago (2010 Iaroslav. Tysiachu let nazad) ........................................................................................................................... 54 2.4 Vladimir Kilburg. Oleg the Seer (2020 Veshchii Oleg) ............................................ 57 2.5 Unknown Ukraine: Sketches of our History (1994-1996 Nevidoma Ukraiina. Narysy nashoii istorii) ............................................................................................................... 61 2.6 Iurii Kovaliov, The Stronghold (2017 Storozhova zastava) ........................................ 64 2.7 Taras Khymych. King Danylo (2018 Korol' Danylo) ................................................. 68 3.0 Contested Cossack Past ........................................................................................................ 73 3.1 The Differences of the Cossack Myth in Russian and Ukrainian Cultural Memory ....................................................................................................................................... 75 3.2 The Importance of the Cossack Myth for the Cultural Memory in Contemporary Ukraine ......................................................................................................................... 79 vi 3.3 The Myth of Khmelnitskii............................................................................................ 85 3.4 Ivan Mazepa: Traitor or Hero? .................................................................................. 97 3.5 The Two Taras Bulbas ............................................................................................... 102 4.0 Memories of the 20th C.: Great Patriotic War or Second World War? ......................... 112 4.1 Staging the Question................................................................................................... 112 4.2 Ukrainian Cinema: The Second World War ........................................................... 120 4.3 Russian Cinema: the Great Patriotic War ............................................................... 127 5.0 Traumatic Memories of the 20th C. ................................................................................... 140 5.1 Oles' Ianchuk. Famine-33 (1991 Golod-33) .............................................................. 144 5.2 Oles' Sanin. The Guide (2014 Povodyr, abo kvity maiut' ochi) ................................ 149 5.3 Akhtem Seitablaev. Haytarma (2013) ...................................................................... 154 6.0 Memory of the Russo Ukrainian Contestation in the 21st C. .......................................... 158 6.1 Akhtem Seitablayev. Cyborgs. Heroes Do Not Die. (2017 Kiborgy. Heroyi ne vmyrayut) ................................................................................................................... 161 6.2 Oleksii Shaparev. Winter of the Brave Ones (2019 Kruty 1918) ............................. 164 6.3 Aleksandr Pimanov. Crimea (2017 Krym) ................................................................ 168 7.0 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 173 Bibliography .............................................................................................................................. 179 vii 1.0 Introduction The representations of a shared past in Russian and Ukrainian historical films turn out to reflect the very different ideological agendas and state-constructed cultural memories of the two countries. The historical film is a powerful medium of cultural memory; it is a lieu de mémoire, in which the Russian imperial and Ukrainian nation-building projects become evident in a range of ways, including selectiveness of the represented past and the perspective of cinematic accounts. The historical film is called upon to connect the past to the present; it may also bring into consideration hidden or competing memories that either challenge or complement prevailing narratives and authoritative accounts of the past, asking the viewer to consider the present as shaped by multiple memories, rather than by a unified historical narrative. The contemporary Russian historical film plays a decisive role in creating an image of Russia as a strong, united state, a successor of an ancient past and the beginnings of Orthodoxy, while Ukrainian cinema has been struggling to define Ukrainian national identity by overcoming its colonial trauma and rehabilitating forbidden memories from oblivion. Historical film is more than simply a record of the historical past; it is a vivid portrayal that involves sensual and emotional perception, bringing it squarely into the realm of affect, and, therefore, of memory. It is a reenactment of the past in the present, reliving it, bringing it into the active memory of the public. Nostalgia for the past leads to a reinvention of the old, creating it anew through cinematic representations, a project that becomes particularly absorbing as the futurist orientation closely compatible with the modernist and Soviet periods