Hostname: page-component-5f745c7db-nc56l Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-06T07:28:08.382Z Has data issue: true hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Polyphony and the Carnivalesque in Kyiv

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2025

Łukasz Gemziak
Łukasz Gemziak*
Affiliation:
Nicolaus Copernicus University, Poland
*
Contact Łukasz Gemziak at Wydział Humanistyczny, Uniwersytet Mikołaja Kopernika w Toruniu, Fosa Staromiejska 3 St, Room 401A 87-100 Toruń, Poland (lukgem@umk.pl).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article analyzes the significance of the place in Kyiv where the statue of Lenin stood before it was toppled during the Euromaidan protests. Following the monument’s demolition, many works of art have been successively exhibited on this site. Drawing on Bakhtin’s concept of the carnival sense of the world, the article suggests that these sculptures, installations, and performances have demonstrated the permanent carnivalesque potential of the place. Moreover, as different representations of Ukrainian memory and identity, these works of art have created a polyphony of voices about the Ukrainian past, present, and future. The research explains the significance of this phenomenon for the Ukrainian society.

Type
Articles
Information
Signs and Society , Volume 10 , Issue 2 , Spring 2022 , pp. 265 - 285
Copyright
Copyright © 2022 Semiosis Research Centre at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. All rights reserved

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

I wish to thank Adam Kola, Аgata Domachowska, and Francesco Trupia for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this article presented at the seminar on collective memory in Central and Eastern Europe at the Laboratory for the Study of Collective Memory in Post-communist Europe (POSTCOMER), Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. I am also grateful to Asif Agha and the reviewer for the journal for many helpful suggestions for improvement.

References

Averianova, Nina, and Tetiana Voropaieva. 2020. “Transformation of the Collective Identity of Ukrainian Citizens after the Revolution of Dignity (2014–2019).” Kyiv-Mohyla Humanities Journal 7:45–71.10.18523/kmhj219654.2020-7.45-71CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bakhtin, Mikhail. 1984. Problems of Dostoevsky’s Poetics. Translated and edited by Caryl Emerson. Introduction by Wayne C. Booth. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.10.5749/j.ctt22727z1CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brovko, Igor’. 2018. “Sinyuyu ruku v tsentre Kiyeva ustanovila Shevchenkovskaya RGA po svoyemu usmotreniyu.” KyivVlada, October 23. https://kievvlast.com.ua/news/sinyuyu-ruku-v-tsentre-kieva-ustanovila-shevchenkovskaya-rga-po-svoemu-usmotreniyu.Google Scholar
Buyskykh, Iuliia. 2016. “Carnival in Urban Protest Culture: The Case of Kyiv’s Early Euromaidan.” Lietuvos Etnologija: Socialinės antropologijos ir etnologijos studijos 16 (25): 69–89.Google Scholar
Carillo, Isa. n.d. “Ritual of Self-Nature.” Accessed March 31, 2022. http://isacarrillo.com/portfolio_page/ritual-of-self-nature/.Google Scholar
Davies, Katie Marie. 2018. “Kiev Has Replaced the City’s Lenin Statue with a Giant Blue Hand.” Calvert Journal, September 28. https://www.calvertjournal.com/articles/show/10684/kiev-has-replaced-the-citys-lenin-statue-with-a-giant-blue-hand.Google Scholar
FEMEN. 2017. “FEMEN Erected a ‘Chocolate Freedom’ Statue in Kyiv.” FEMEN Official Blog, August 23. https://femen.org/femen-erected-a-chocolate-freedom-statue-in-kyiv/.Google Scholar
Filyuk, Kateryna. 2019. “Social Contract: How Ukrainian Society Comes to Terms with Its Dubious Past.” Kajet Digital, November 25. http://kajetjournal.com/2019/11/25/kateryna-filyuk-social-contract/.Google Scholar
Fraza.yua. 2017. “V Kiyeve byvshiy pamyatnik Leninu prevratili v memorial boytsov Pravogo sektora.” Fraza.yua, September 11. https://fraza.com/video/262480-v-kieve-byvshij-pamjatnik-leninu-prevratili-v-memorial-bojtsov-pravogo-sektora.Google Scholar
Gerasimova, Anastasiya. 2017. “Cynthia Gutiérrez: ‘Ya brosayu vyzov miru.’” Art Ukraine, April 6. https://artukraine.com.ua/a/sintiya-guterres--ya-brosayu-vyzov-miru/#.YDYgGuhKjIW.Google Scholar
Gerasimov, Ilya. 2014. “Ukraine 2014: The First Postcolonial Revolution; Introduction to the Forum.” Ab Imperio 3:22–44.10.1353/imp.2014.0072CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hosaka, Sanshiro. 2019. “Hybrid Historical Memories in Post-Euromaidan Ukraine.” Europe-Asia Studies 71 (4): 551–78.10.1080/09668136.2019.1578863CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hrytsak, Yaroslav. 2014. “Ignorance Is Power.” Ab Imperio 3:218–28.10.1353/imp.2014.0074CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Izolyatsia. 2016. “Installation by Cynthia Gutierrez at the Former Site of the Lenin Monument.” Izolyatsia: Platform for Cultural Initiatives, July 18. https://izolyatsia.org/en/project/social-contract/inhabiting-shadows-post-release/.Google Scholar
Izolyatsia. 2017a. “Manuel Pelmuş: A Monument for Kyiv.” Social Contract (blog). https://izolyatsia.org/social-contract/manuel-pelmus/.Google Scholar
Izolyatsia. 2017b. “Social Contract 2017: Open Call for Artists.” Social Contract (blog). https://izolyatsia.org/social-contract/contest/.Google Scholar
Izolyatsia. 2017c. “Social Contract 2017: Winner Announced.” Social Contract (blog). https://izolyatsia.org/social-contract/winner/.Google Scholar
Khromeychuk, Olesya. 2020. “Glory to the Heroes? Gender, Nationalism, and Memory.” In The Burden of the Past: History, Memory, and Identity in Contemporary Ukraine, edited by Anna Wylegała and Malgorzata Głowacka-Grajper, 140–63. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.10.2307/j.ctvx8b7rg.11CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Knyaz’skaya-Khanova, Mila. 2018. “Vmesto Lenina: Vse neobychnyye pamyatniki, kotoryye poyavlyalis’ v Kiyeve na meste ‘Vozhdya.’” Segodnya.ua, October 17. https://kiev.segodnya.ua/kiev/kother/vmesto-lenina-vse-neobychnye-pamyatniki-kotorye-poyavlyalis-na-meste-snesennogo-vozhdya-1180172.html.Google Scholar
Kozak, Nazar. 2017. “Art Embedded into Protest: Staging the Ukrainian Maidan.” Art Journal 76 (1): 8–27.10.1080/00043249.2017.1332873CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kravchenko, Aleksandr. 2018. “Ot Klichko trebuyut otveta za ‘sinyuyu ruku.’” KyivVlada, October 5. https://kievvlast.com.ua/news/ot-klichko-trebuyut-otveta-za-sinyuyu-ruku.Google Scholar
Kurkov, Andrey. 2015. “Foreword.” In What Does Ukraine Think?, edited by Andrew Wilson, 6–9. London: ECFR.Google Scholar
Langman, Lauren. 2014. “The Carnivalization of the Public Sphere.” In Re-imagining Public Space, edited by Diana Boros and James M. Glass, 191–214. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Liubarets, Andriy. 2016. “The Politics of Memory in Ukraine in 2014: Removal of the Soviet Cultural Legacy and Euromaidan Commemorations.” Kyiv-Mohyla Humanities Journal 3:197–214.10.18523/kmhj73968.2016-3.197-214CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Malover’yan, Yuriy. 2014. “Tikhiy den’ Maydana: Zolotoy unitaz vmesto Lenina.” BBC News (Russkaya Sluzhba), February 3. https://www.bbc.com/russian/international/2014/02/140203_ukraine_maidan_quiet_day.Google Scholar
Marchenko, Irina. 2019. “V tsentre Kiyeva ustanovili novuyu skul’pturu, ukraintsy ne v vostorge.” Znaj.ua, October 30. https://kyiv.znaj.ua/ru/274130-u-centri-kiyeva-vstanovili-novu-skulpturu-ukrajinci-ne-v-zahvati-kosyaki-vladi-ob-yednani-sharoyu.Google Scholar
Metinvest. 2020. “Metal in a Sculptor’s Hands: An Interview with Oleksii Zolotariov.” Metinvest (blog), June 3. https://metinvestholding.com/en/media/article/metall-v-rukah-skuljptora-intervjyu-s-alekseem-zolotarevim.Google Scholar
Morton, Elise. 2016. “Kiev’s Izolyatsia Presents Endless Celebration Installation Where Lenin Once Stood.” Calvert Journal, November 2. https://www.calvertjournal.com/articles/show/7105/kievs-izolyatsia-presents-endless-celebration-installation-where-lenin-once.Google Scholar
Nevskaya, Aleksandra. 2020. “‘Protivostoyaniye’—na ploshchadi Svobody i Mira v Mariupole.” mrpl.city, September 8. https://mrpl.city/news/view/protivostoyaniena-ploshhadi-svobody-i-mira-v-mariupole.Google Scholar
Pastushenko, Tetiana. 2020. “The War of Memory in Times of War: May 9 Celebrations in Kyiv in 2014–15.” In The Burden of the Past: History, Memory, and Identity in Contemporary Ukraine, edited by Anna Wylegała, and Malgorzata Głowacka-Grajper, 77–90. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.10.2307/j.ctvx8b7rg.8CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pitalev, Il’ya. 2019. “V tsentre Kiyeva vmesto Lenina ustanovili skul’pturu ‘Protivostoyaniye.’” Argumenty i Fakty, October 30. https://aif.ru/society/v_centre_kieva_vmesto_lenina_ustanovili_skulpturu_protivostoyanie.Google Scholar
Pivovarov, Sergey. 2018. “Pyat’ let nazad v Kiyeve na Bessarabke snesli pamyatnik Leninu: Vot kak yego ustanovili, povalili i prevratili v art-ob’yekt.” Babel’, December 8. https://babel.ua/ru/texts/22746-pyat-let-nazad-v-kieve-na-bessarabke-snesli-pamyatnik-leninu-vot-kak-ego-ustanovili-povalili-i-prevratili-v-art-obekt.Google Scholar
Plakhotnik, Olga, and Maria Mayerchyk. 2010. “The Radical FEMEN and the New Women’s Activism.” Krytyka Magazine 14 (11–12): 157–58. https://krytyka.com/en/articles/radical-femen-and-new-womens-activism.Google Scholar
Plokhii, Serhii. 2017. “Goodbye Lenin: A Memory Shift in Revolutionary Ukraine.” Digital Atlas of Ukraine. https://gis.huri.harvard.edu/leninfall.Google Scholar
Plokhy, Serhii. 1994. “Historical Debates and Territorial Claims: Cossack Mythology in the Russian-Ukrainian Border Dispute.” In The Legacy of History in Russia and the New States of Eurasia, edited by S. Frederick Starr, 147–70. Armonk, NY: Sharpe.Google Scholar
Plokhy, Serhii. 2015. The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Popova, Diana. 2019. “My prodovzhuyemo nashi mystets’ki interventsiyi v misti.” Kyiv official portal, October 29. https://kyivcity.gov.ua/news/diana_popova_mi_prodovzhuyemo_nashi_mistetski_interventsi_v_misti/.Google Scholar
Portnov, Andrii. 2015. “Post-Maidan Europe and the New Ukrainian Studies.” Slavic Review 74 (4): 723–31.10.5612/slavicreview.74.4.723CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prikhod’ko, Bogdan, and Anton Drannik. 2017. “V Kiyeve pamyatnik Leninu tainstvenno prevratili v memorial boytsov Pravogo sektora.” Vesti.ua, September 11. https://vesti.ua/kiev/255736-pamjatnik-.Google Scholar
Pshenychnykh, Anastasiya. 2020. “Leninfall: The Spectacle of Forgetting.” European Journal of Cultural Studies 23 (3): 393–414.10.1177/1367549419871345CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Raţă, Bogdan. 2018. “Artist Statement, Kyiv Moving Monuments.” https://www.cosminnasui.com/2018/10/artist-statement-kyiv-moving-monuments/.Google Scholar
Satoshi Nakamoto Republic. 2019. Website. https://startup.ua/en/startups/375586.html.Google Scholar
Shevel, Oxana. 2011. “The Politics of Memory in a Divided Society: A Comparison of Post-Franco Spain and Post-Soviet Ukraine.” Slavic Review 70 (1): 137–64.10.5612/slavicreview.70.1.0137CrossRefGoogle Scholar
St. John, Graham. 2008. “Protestival: Global Days of Action and Carnivalized Politics in the Present.” Social Movement Studies 7 (2): 167–90.10.1080/14742830802283550CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sułek, Ewa. 2018. Chłopak z pianinem: O sztuce i wojnie na Ukrainie. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.Google Scholar
Sułek, Ewa. 2019. “Wymazywanie: Wpływ polityki pamięci na przestrzeń kulturową Ukrainy po roku 2014.” Annales Universitatis Paedagogicae Cracoviensis: Studia Politologica 22:171–84.Google Scholar
Tassev, Lubomir. 2018. “Virtual Satoshi Monument Goes Up in Kiev, Hollywood Is Next.” Bitcoin.com, October 5. https://news.bitcoin.com/virtual-satoshi-monument-goes-up-in-kiev-hollywood-is-next/.Google Scholar
Ukrinform.ua. 2018. “Virtual’nyy pam’yatnyk tvortsevi bitkoyina vidkryly na mistsi znesenoho Lenina u Kyyevi.” Ukrinform.ua, September 29. https://www.ukrinform.ua/rubric-kyiv/2548356-virtualnij-pamatnik-tvorcevi-bitkoina-vidkrili-na-misci-znesenogo-lenina-u-kievi.html.Google Scholar
Vesti.ua. 2016a. “Bogoroditsa svalilas’ s postamenta pamyatnika Leninu v Kiyeve.” Vesti.ua, July 6. https://vesti.ua/kiev/156027-bogorodica-svalilas-s-postamenta-pamjatnika-leninu-v-kieve.Google Scholar
Vesti.ua. 2016b. “Na meste pamyatnika Leninu v Kiyeve poyavilas’ Bogoroditsa.” Vesti.ua, July 6. https://vesti.ua/kiev/156008-na-meste-pamjatnika-leninu-v-kieve-pojavilas-bogorodica.Google Scholar
Vesti.ua. 2017. “V Kiyeve isportili installyatsiyu na meste pamyatnika Leninu.” Vesti.ua, May 10. https://vesti.ua/kiev/237703-v-kieve-isportili-installjatsiju-na-meste-pamjatnika-leninu.Google Scholar
Walker, Shaun. 2016. “Kiev Art Installation Lets Ukrainians Knock Lenin off His Pedestal.” The Guardian, July 14. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/14/kiev-art-installation-lets-ukrainians-knock-lenin-off-pedestal.Google Scholar
Yekelchyk, Serhy. 2020. Ukraine: What Everyone Needs to Know®. New York: Oxford University Press.10.1093/wentk/9780197532102.001.0001CrossRefGoogle Scholar