Volkswagen Foundation
funding period
1 June 2022 - 31 May 2023
VW Borders in Crisis
Discursive, Narrative, and Mediatic Border Struggles in Ukraine, Europe, and North America
an activity of the UniGR-Center for Border Studies at Saarland University
funded by Volkswagen Foundation
Research project, Volkswagen Foundation funding line for displaced Ukrainian scholars, 2022-2023
Borders in Crisis: Discursive, Narrative, and Mediatic Border Struggles in Ukraine, Europe, and North America
As some have stated, Russia’s war in Ukraine is (supposedly) not so much about borders as it is about identity. We interpret this affirmation, which clearly is based on a rather narrow understanding of the concept of the ‘border,’ as an attempt, not to downplay the violent aggression on Ukrainian territory, but rather to highlight the particular role questions of identity play in this war, which is fought out also in the cultural sphere – in the realms of language, media, history, as well as cultural productions and sites, ranging from language policies, semiotic warfare and the censoring of media content, to the very material shelling of cultural sites.
Given the particular role of cultural productions in this war, and furthermore anticipating a rich cultural production emerging from the trauma of this war and the flight and displacement of millions of Ukrainians, we aim at shedding light onto the cultural construction of Ukrainian borders through an intertwined analysis of discursive, narrative, and mediatic negotiations of Ukrainian-European and Ukrainian-North American identities. Analyzing and interpreting constructions of national identities without falling into the trap of nationalism requires intertwined perspectives also across borders.
With this aim, we bring together shared expertise from literary and cultural studies, media studies, and linguistics in the fields of transnational American Studies as well as European Studies, and specifically Ukrainian Studies under the roof of Border Studies. The UniGR-Center for Border Studies and its local branch at Saarland University with its strong focus on cultural and linguistic border studies and its long history of collaboration with colleagues at Petro Mohyla Black Sea National University, offers a fertile ground for our Ukrainian partners and the development of our joint research.
Work Packages:
- WP I: Crossing Borders: Ukrainian Diasporic Literature
- WP II: Cultural Border Policies in Ukrainian and Polish Literature
- WP III: Cultural Construction of Ukrainian Borders in Populist Discourses
- WP IV: Literary Representations of Displaced Ukrainian and North American Children.
Publications
Mozolevska, Alina (2022): "'Exilés de L’intérieur': Rhetoric of Indignation and Nostalgia in French Far-Right Populist Discourse." Jean Monnet Chair Working Papers in Political Sociology issue, no. 2.
Mozolevska, Alina (2023): "Performing the People: Discourses of Pablo Iglesias and Volodymyr Zelensky." In Goran Petrović Lotina and Théo Aiolfi (Eds.): Performing Left Populism: Performance, Politics, and the People. London: Bloomsbury Collections Methuen Drama.
Fellner, Astrid M., Alina Mozolevska and Eva Nossem (Eds.) (2023): "Understanding Russia’s War in Ukraine. Borders, Identities, and Boundaries: An Interview with Julia Buyskykh, Alina Mozolevska, and Oleksandr Pronkevich." UniGR-CBS Working Paper Vol. 18. (August 7th, 2023) DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.8179180.
Biloshapko, Valeriia (forthcoming): "The Border as a Determinant of Andrzej Stasiuk's Creative Phenomenon." In Astrid M. Fellner, Svitlana Kot, Eva Nossem, and Olha Polishchuk (Eds.): "Borders in Crisis: Discursive, Narrative, and Mediatic Border Struggles in Ukraine, Europe, and North America." UniGR-CBS Thematic Issue Borders in Perspective, vol. 10.
Fellner, Astrid M; Svitlana Kot, Eva Nossem, and Olha Polishchuk (Eds.) (forthcoming): "Borders in Crisis: Discursive, Narrative, and Mediatic Border Struggles in Ukraine, Europe, and North America." UniGR-CBS Thematic Issue Borders in Perspective, vol. 10.
Kot, Svitlana (forthcoming): "Refugee trajectories through the lens of childhood in Alan Gratz's Refugee." In Astrid M. Fellner, Svitlana Kot, Eva Nossem, and Olha Polishchuk (Eds.): "Borders in Crisis: Discursive, Narrative, and Mediatic Border Struggles in Ukraine, Europe, and North America." UniGR-CBS Thematic Issue Borders in Perspective, vol. 10.
Kot, Svitlana (in preparation): "We/They Are Displaced: Children Refugees in American Literature and Beyond."
Mozolevska, Alina (forthcoming): "Cultural Construction of Ukrainian Borders in Populist Discourses." In Astrid M. Fellner, Svitlana Kot, Eva Nossem, and Olha Polishchuk (Eds.): "Borders in Crisis: Discursive, Narrative, and Mediatic Border Struggles in Ukraine, Europe, and North America." UniGR-CBS Thematic Issue Borders in Perspective, vol. 10.
Mozolevska, Alina (forthcoming): "The Power of Maps and Geographic Imagery in Digital Communication: Narrating Russia’s War in Ukraine." In Victoria Sereda (Ed.): PRISMA UKRAÏNA: War, Migration and Memory.
Nossem, Eva (forthcoming): "LGBT Discourses and the War in Ukraine." In Astrid M. Fellner, Svitlana Kot, Eva Nossem, and Olha Polishchuk (Eds.): "Borders in Crisis: Discursive, Narrative, and Mediatic Border Struggles in Ukraine, Europe, and North America." UniGR-CBS Thematic Issue Borders in Perspective, vol. 10.
Polishchuk, Olha (forthcoming): "The discourse of memory and identity in the work of O. Lіaturynska: the experience of overcoming the migration crisis." In Astrid M. Fellner, Svitlana Kot, Eva Nossem, and Olha Polishchuk (Eds.): "Borders in Crisis: Discursive, Narrative, and Mediatic Border Struggles in Ukraine, Europe, and North America." UniGR-CBS Thematic Issue Borders in Perspective, vol. 10.
Polishchuk, Olha (forthcoming): "'My War' as a means of preserving the individual and collective memory of Ukrainians during the Russian invasion in 2022." In Victoria Sereda (Ed.): PRISMA UKRAÏNA: War, Migration and Memory.
Shestopalova, Tetiana (forthcoming): "Representation of the Home on the Frontier in Olena Stiazhkina's Novel Cecil the Lion had to Die." In Astrid M. Fellner, Svitlana Kot, Eva Nossem, and Olha Polishchuk (Eds.): "Borders in Crisis: Discursive, Narrative, and Mediatic Border Struggles in Ukraine, Europe, and North America." UniGR-CBS Thematic Issue Borders in Perspective, vol. 10.
Shestopalova, Tetiana (forthcoming): "The Russian-Ukrainian War as a Challenge to the Identity and Memory of Ukrainian Writers." In Victoria Sereda (Ed.): PRISMA UKRAÏNA: War, Migration and Memory.
Research Activities
Conferences, Workshops, Talks,...
Tetiana Shestopalova
“An Intermedial Discourse of Natalka Marynchak’s War Diary.” Talk at the Congès international du réseau Memità (7-9 December 2022, University of Pau, France).
“The Russian-Ukrainian War as a Challenge to the Linguistic Identity of Ukrainian Writers.” Talk at the Historical Diversity Workshop Rethinking the Soviet experiment: Ukrainian and Russian perspectives (28-29 April 2023, University of Oslo, Norway).
“Crossing Borders: The Ukrainian Literary and Publishing Projects of Yurii Lawrynenko in the USA.” Talk at the UniGR-Center for Border Studies Seminar #9 Borders in Crisis: Border Struggles and Border Violence in a Global Perspective (11-12 May 2023, Saarland University, Germany).
"A Home in the Frontier: Donbas Writer Olena Stiazhkina and Her Representation of Eastern Ukraine." Talk at the World Convention of ASN-2023 (18-20 May 2023, Harriman Institute at Columbia University, New York, USA)
"From Russification to Ukrainization: the migration narrative of Volodymyr Rafeyenko's novel 'Mondegreen.'" Talk at the Border Seminar: Migration Narratives (23-25 May 2023, University of Gdansk, Poland).
"Borders of Memory and Identity of Donbas in the Novels of Olena Styazhkina and Volodymyr Rafeyenko." Talk at the Conference Trauma, Memory, and Counter-Culture: Borders and Border Transgressions in (Post-)Communist Europe (1-2 June 2023, University of Oslo, Norway).
"Ukrainian artist-'homo Universalis' during the war: work with prospective national memory." Talk at the Conference Between past and present: Living and narrating Russo-Ukrainian war in a European perspective (11-13 June 2023, University of Tartu, Estonia).
Olha Polishchuk
“'My war' through the eyes of eyewitnesses.” Talk at the Congès international du réseau Memità (7-9 December 2022, University of Pau, France).
“The Multiple Trajectories of Oksana Lyaturynska’s Migrant Experience: Europe – USA.” Talk at the UniGR-Center for Border Studies Seminar #9 Borders in Crisis: Border Struggles and Border Violence in a Global Perspective (11-12 May 2023, Saarland University, Germany).
"Emigration crisis in the work of O.Liaturynska." Talk at the Border Seminar: Migration Narratives (23-25 May 2023, University of Gdansk, Poland).
"The real and mental border in T. Antypovych's novel Pomyrana." Talk at the Conference Trauma, Memory, and Counter-Culture: Borders and Border Transgressions in (Post-)Communist Europe (1-2 June 2023, University of Oslo, Norway).
"'My War': eyewitness experience." Talk at the Conference Between past and present: Living and narrating Russo-Ukrainian war in a European perspective (11-13 June 2023, University of Tartu, Estonia).
Alina Mozolevska
"Laughter through Tears: Role of Humor in Ukrainian Resistance Against Russian Aggression." Talk at the conference Emotions, Populism, and Polarised Politics, Media, and Culture (June 15-17 2022, University of Helsinki, Finland).
"Russia's War in Ukraine and New War Narratives.” Talks at the Huntington Library Conference Law and New Media (September 15-17 2022, Pasadena, USA).
"Charisma, Humour, and Ressentiment: Comparing Trump and Zelenskyy," together with Mikko Salmela (University of Copenhagen) and Dominik Zelinsky (University of Copenhagen). Talk at the Research Seminar Groups, Movements, Change: Perspectives from Sociology and Phenomenology (October 5-6 2022, Copenhagen, Danemark) Topic of the presentation
“Constructing the Other: Analyzing the Discourse of Russia-Ukraine War in Social Media.” Talk at the Congès international du réseau Memità (7-9 December 2022, University of Pau, France).
"Weaponization of History in the Visual Discourse of Russia’s War in Ukraine." Talk at the International Conference ERNS The Politics of Memory as a Weapon (8-10 February 2023, Berlin).
"The transformation of Ukrainian identity and the other. Narrating and living the Russian-Ukrainian war" Talk at the Symposium War in Ukraine. Theological, Ethical and Historical Reflections (February 13-17, University of Vienna, Austria).
“The Cultural Construction of the Russo-Ukrainian War in American and European Populist Discourses.” Talk at the UniGR-Center for Border Studies Seminar #9 Borders in Crisis: Border Struggles and Border Violence in a Global Perspective (11-12 May 2023, Saarland University, Germany).
"Performing the Nation: Volodymyr Zelensky’s Discourses and Performances after the Beginning of Russia’s Full-scale Invasion" Talk at the World Convention of ASN-2023 (18-20 May 2023, Harriman Institute at Columbia University, New York, USA)
"Narrating border trajectories in times of crisis (based on the works My Europe and The East by Andrzej Stasiuk.'" Talk at the Border Seminar: Migration Narratives (23-25 May 2023, University of Gdansk, Poland).
"Discursive Power of Maps and Borders in Ukrainian Visual Arts: Narrating Russia’s War in Ukraine." Talk at the Conference Trauma, Memory, and Counter-Culture: Borders and Border Transgressions in (Post-)Communist Europe (1-2 June 2023, University of Oslo, Norway).
Valeriia Biloshapko
“Visions of Europe by Polish writer Andrzej Stasiuk and American writer William T. Vollmann.” Talk at the UniGR-Center for Border Studies Seminar #9 Borders in Crisis: Border Struggles and Border Violence in a Global Perspective (11-12 May 2023, Saarland University, Germany).
"Narrating border trajectories in times of crisis (based on the works My Europe and The East by Andrzej Stasiuk.'" Talk at the Border Seminar: Migration Narratives (23-25 May 2023, University of Gdansk, Poland).
Svitlana Kot
“On mediatisation of the war Facebook War diaries as a tool of creating cultural memory.” Talk at the Congès international du réseau Memità (7-9 December 2022, University of Pau, France).
“Border trajectories and border chronotopes through the lens of childhood in Alan Gratz's Refugee.” Talk at the UniGR-Center for Border Studies Seminar #9 Borders in Crisis: Border Struggles and Border Violence in a Global Perspective (11-12 May 2023, Saarland University, Germany).
"Across times, spaces and borders”: the representation of children as war-induced refugees in border crossing narratives.'" Talk at the Border Seminar: Migration Narratives (23-25 May 2023, University of Gdansk, Poland).
“'Perimeters of our lives': exploring biopolitics of borders in repressive societies through the lens of dystopias by J.Melnik Masha, or the Fourth Reich, L.Erdrich’s Future Home of the Living God, and M.Atwood’s Handmaid’s Tale.” Talk at the Historical Diversity Workshop Rethinking the Soviet experiment: Ukrainian and Russian perspectives (28-29 April 2023, University of Oslo, Norway).
"War diaries in the digital age: transformations, current trajectories, and perspectives." Talk at the Conference Between past and present: Living and narrating Russo-Ukrainian war in a European perspective (11-13 June 2023, University of Tartu, Estonia).
Eva Nossem
"LGBT Discourses and the War in Ukraine." Talk at the Lavender Languages and Linguistics #29. (11 March 2023, Boise State University, Idaho - hybrid)
Transfer and Outreach Activities
Opening of a collection of Ukrainian Children's Literatur, Stadtbibliothek Saarbrücken (9 November 2022, Shestopalova)
Roundtable "Border Realities: Perspectives from Ukraine'' (June 21, 2022, Saarland University, Saarbrücken; Mozolevska, Fellner)
Film Series "Filmland Ukraine" in collaboration with Kino Achteinhalb
4.11. 2022 – EARTH (Ukrainian: Земля), a 1930 silent film directed by Alexander Dovzhenko, one of the top ten greatest films of all times by the International Film Critics Symposium
Introduction: Olha Polishchuk
18.11. 2022 – SHADOWS OF FORGOTTEN ANCESTORS (Ukrainian: Тіні забутих предків) – a 1965 film – classic of Ukrainian magical realist cinema directed by Sergei Parajanov
Introduction: Oleksandr Pronkevych
2.12.2022 – THE GUIDE (Ukrainian: Поводир), a 2014 Ukrainian drama film about an American Boy and a Ukrainian blind bard (kobzar), directed by Oles Sanin
Introduction: Svitlana Kot
12.12.2022 – THE EARTH IS BLUE AS AN ORANGE (Ukrainian: "Земля блакитна, ніби апельсин"), a 2020 documentary film about living in the front-line war zone, directed and written by Iryna Tsilyk.
Introduction: Tetiana Shestopalova
30.01.2023 – NICHTS ÜBER UNS OHNE UNS (Ukrainian: ""), a 2017-2020 Queer Ukrainian short films
Introduction: Olha Plakhotnik
30.01.2023 – STOP ZEMLIA (Ukrainian: ""),
Introduction: Alina Mozolevska
30.01.2023 – HAMLET SYNDROME (Ukrainian: ""), dir. Elwira Niewiera, Piotr Rosolowski
Introduction: Valeriia Biloshapko
Q&A with Piotr Rosolowski
30.01.2023 – 19.00 – MR JONES, dir. Agnieszka Holland
Introduction: Waldemar Spallek
Q&A with Agnieszka Holland
Participation in the Summer School "Witnessing and Documenting Wartime Experiences: The Current Russian War in Ukraine, Historical Perspectives, and Global Alliances" (Saarland University, 16-24 April 2023; Shestopalova, Polishchuk, Mozolevska, Kot, Biloshapko).
Nichts über uns ohne uns. Queere ukrainische Kurzfilme
funded by Volkswagen Foundation