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Kategorie: Prisma Ukraïna

Prisma Ukraïna – Research Network Eastern Europe is a research program at the Forum Transregionale Studien that opens up new regional and transregional perspectives on and from the east of Europe through the prism of Ukraine. Initiated in 2015 and directed by Andrii Portnov, Prisma Ukraïna provides scope for academic research, transregional exchange and communication through fellowships, workshops, panel discussions, seminars, lectures and science communication.
Prisma Ukraïna: War, Migration and Memory is an interdisciplinary research group of Ukrainian scholars in Ukraine and Germany that has been constituted in 2022. The research group is directed by Viktoria Sereda and investigates the transformational effects of war and dislocation on people’s memory, history, and sense of belonging.
Prisma Ukraïna – Research Network Eastern Europe has been realized with funding from the Land Berlin.
The remote/non-resident fellowships for participating scholars in Ukraine have been provided for by the Zeit-Stiftung Ebelin and Gerd Bucerius and the Marga und Kurt Möllgard-Stiftung.

Editors: Tamara Beresh, Sophie Schmäing (coordination), Simon Kötschau, Lidia Kuzemska, and Viktoria Sereda

Prisma Ukraïna / Rethinking East European Studies in Times of Upheaval

An Angry Ukrainian Syndrome: Stereotypes About War, Peace, and Injustice

By Olena Komar. In this article, the author aims to demonstrate that a set of prejudices exists in Western countries against Ukrainians, which she terms the “Angry Ukrainian Syndrome” (similar to the “North African Syndrome”). This is a set of biases that have emerged through the way Ukrainians communicate about the war and how they meet the stereotypical expectations of Westerners. Furthermore, these prejudices are colonial, stemming from an inability to see Ukrainians as independent people, distinct from Russians.

Prisma Ukraïna / Rethinking East European Studies in Times of Upheaval

Синдром злих українців: несправедливість та стереотипи про війну і мир

Олена Комар. У цій статті я демонструю низку упереджень щодо українців у західних країнах, які я називаю «синдромом злих українців» (за аналогією з «північноафриканським синдромом»). Ці упередження виникли через те, як українці розповідають про війну і як їх сприймають у зв’язку зі стереотипними очікуваннями західноєвропейців. Крім того, ці упередження мають колоніальну природу, що випливає з нездатності бачити українців як незалежний народ, відмінний від росіян.

Prisma Ukraïna / War, Migration and Memory

Dual-Intent Approach to Ukrainians Abroad: A Post-Script to the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2024

By Lidia Kuzemska. Berlin was an epicentre of Ukraine-focused events in June 2024. Apart from the massive Ukraine Recovery Conference with over 3400 participants gathered with the intent “to strengthen the resilience of Ukraine for as long as needed” (URC, 2024), numerous pre, side and post-events took place across the city. Smaller publics, targeted discussions and less scripted opinion exchanges were also a chance for Ukrainians abroad to reflect on their role in the recovery of their homeland.

Prisma Ukraïna / Rethinking East European Studies in Times of Upheaval

Enduring Through Liminality: Across and Beyond the Borders of Eastern Europe in the Wartime

By Julia Buyskykh. For decades, anthropologists have been studying borders and borderlands, concentrating on marginalised groups (whether minorities, migrants, or refugees), cross-border state relations, border shadow economies, and the multiple identities of populations settling along borders, whose silenced voices often contradict official state narratives of history, identities, and religion. In this article, the author reflects upon her own experience, entangling it with current anthropological scholarship, exploring the tragic semantics of being displaced and misplaced.

Prisma Ukraïna / War, Migration and Memory

War, Displacement and the Shifting Meaning of ‘Donbas’: Initial Findings from the Field

By Qianrui Hu. Although Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine shocked the whole world, Russia’s war against Ukraine started already in 2014 with the illegal annexation of Crimea and the military interventions in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in Eastern Ukraine. This blog post tries to unpack the dialectical relationship between war, migration, and memory, the central research theme at Prisma Ukraїna, from the perspective of the people who have been experiencing this war since 2014.

Prisma Ukraïna / Rethinking East European Studies in Times of Upheaval

In Search of Stability and Purpose: Ukrainian (Displaced) Researchers in Germany

By Lidia Kuzemska. In April 2024, major German foundations organised a networking event for their Ukrainian fellows. Two days of discussions and exchange served not only to give the scholars from different fields space to mingle, but also to brainstorm about how they see their current role and future in academia (be it in Ukraine, in Germany or elsewhere). This text provides an overview of what Ukrainian researchers in Germany currently consider to be the most important challenges and how they perceive their prospects.

Prisma Ukraïna / Rethinking East European Studies in Times of Upheaval

Decolonizing Family Metaphors in the Context of the Russian-Ukrainian War and Beyond

By Illia Ilin. The recent history of Ukraine can be metaphorically described as a journey to break away from the abusive “triune Russian people” family and reconnect with the democratic “European peoples” family. This long process of decolonization has been ongoing for over 30 years and signifies the reclamation of Ukrainian territories, history, and identity by the Ukrainian people. This article will explore the family metaphors of (de)colonization of Russia and unified Europe in relation to Ukraine, and the potential for their expansion and decolonization.

Prisma Ukraïna / Rethinking East European Studies in Times of Upheaval

Complicity, Past and Present: Portrayals of Involvement in Mass Violence and Terror in Documentary Fiction

By Juliane Prade-Weiss. One of the puzzling questions about Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine and other conflicts is why people participate in, support, or condone mass violence when it appears, for observers, so glaringly wrong. Reasons for becoming complicit with violence against civilians vary with individual positions as well as historical and regional contexts. Participation in, aiding and abetting mass violence and the structures of authoritarian, totalitarian or other regimes exerting it are key issues in the social sciences and in history. Yet, literary texts can contribute to understanding complicity, too.

Prisma Ukraïna / Reviews

“Strong Sea – Resistance on the Krym “, 20 April 2024, Berlin

In Germany, little is known about the Krym and the decades-long resistance of the local population against Russian and Soviet rule, including the resistance of indigenous peoples such as the Krym Tartars.
For this reason, the Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung (BpB) hosted a multimedia event entitled “Strong Sea – Resistance on the Krym” at the Staatsbibliothek in Berlin. A Review by Martin Lochthofen.