Russian Studies Workshop

World War II created painful and traumatic memories for the Russian people. The war itself (called the Great Patriotic War in Russia) has been the most commemorated event in the history of the twentieth century in Russia. The Soviet regime’s official narrative of triumph following the war dominated for several decades, constituting one of the pillars of national identity. But many pages in the history of WWII were omitted or deliberately forgotten if they did not fit into the official, triumphal narrative. Recent academic publications have reopened a discussion about the Siege of Leningrad, discussing guilt and pride, strategies of surviving and human values, and ways of commemoration and remembering. In this panel discussion, we bring scholars from different fields – history, literature, art, and museum and memory studies – to have a conversation about remembering and forgetting the Siege of Leningrad in Russian literature, life writing, and art.

“Surviving, Remembering, and Forgetting the Siege of Leningrad” Program

 Presenters:

• Polina Barskova, Associate Professor, Hampshire College
• Angelina Davydova, Environmental Journalist, St. Petersburg State University
• Lisa Kirschenbaum, Professor, Department of History, West Chester University
• Andrea Stanislav, Associate Professor, Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture and Design, Indiana University
• Emily Van Buskirk, Associate Professor, Department of German, Russian, and East European Languages and Literatures, Rutgers University
• Maria Zavialova, Chief Curator and Head of Exhibitions and Collections, The Museum of Russian Art, Minneapolis

Moderator:

• Tatiana Saburova, Lecturer, Department of History, Academic Co-Director, Russian Studies Workshop, Indiana University

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An IU Library Resource Guide (LibGuide) on the Siege of Leningrad, prepared by Veronika Trotter, Senior Collections Reference Assistant, is now available at 
http://guides.libraries.indiana.edu/c.php?g=920156. 

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Read the REEIfication Newsletter article:

Themester Looks Back on Russia’s Turbulent Century