Ukraine in search of a post-colonial identity: de-constructing narratives through film
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2019-07-07
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en
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Ukraine has a very complicated history with Russia, one of colonial nature, but because of cultural closeness traditional postcolonial theory is difficult to apply. Recent events had shown that culture plays a significant role even in today’s geopolitics of the region, which is why this paper focuses on cultural objects as a gateway to understanding post colonialism and identity construction in Ukraine. The chosen case study is a 2014 historical fiction film “Povodyr” (The Guide). Both postcolonial theory and Barthesian semiotics have been applied in order to uncover postcolonial intercultural dynamics. The results have shown that the film is following an anti colonial discourse, one that seems to be necessary to move towards decolonization. However, current events are further hindering this process, so it is of utmost importance to continue research on the meaning of cultural artifacts in constructing a postcolonial Ukrainian identity.
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Faculteit der Letteren