Children’s Books on WWII within the Collective Memory of the Ukrainian Diaspora

DOI

10.2991/assehr.k.210525.016How to use a DOI?

Keywords

children’s books, WWII, collective memory, Ukrainian Diaspora

Abstract

The article deals with the issue of World War II (WWII) in the books for children by the Ukrainian Diaspora of the twentieth century. Along with other works on WWII theme in world literature, books by Ukrainian Diasporic writers for children and young adults (YA) such as Bodnarchuk’s Kladka (Small Bridge), Bryzghun-Shanta’s Moia Taiemnytsia (My Secret), Dmytrenko’s Mykhailyk, and Tsehelska’s Petruseva Povist (Petrusev’s Story) depict WWII and its consequences for Ukrainians. I claim that Ukrainian works on WWII theme are based on the collective memory theory referred to by Maurice Halbwachs and Barbara Shatska. My position is that WWII theme in children’s literature is centered closely on the collective memory of the Ukrainian Diaspora. In reference to Halbwachs’ interpretation of collective memory as a way of group identity, awareness of the general past, significant values, and symbols, I consider collective memory in children’s literature as a necessary way to deal with the traumatic experience of the Ukrainian Diaspora. My analysis then focuses on the investigation of how these concepts are implemented in children’s books.

Copyright

© 2021, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press.

Open Access

This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Maryna Vardanian
PY  - 2021
DA  - 2021/05/27
TI  - Children’s Books on WWII within the Collective Memory of the Ukrainian Diaspora
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on New Trends in Languages, Literature and Social Communications (ICNTLLSC 2021)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 121
EP  - 128
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.210525.016
DO  - 10.2991/assehr.k.210525.016
ID  - Vardanian2021
ER  -